Unattached
by Hearii
Summary: When all the pieces are collected, it really doesn't matter if the puzzle doesn't fit or make sense. Ch.28: Men should never wage war with women, unless they want to look like idiots.
1. Compromise

I've decided something. I'm going to try and write every style of story, which is one-shot (Until You Know The Consequence), shortish story (The Starring Contest), long story (I'm planning on that one being Survival Is Only A Game) and collection. I plan on this story being my collection even if I will make an Inuyasha one, just to make my Inuyasha-story-styles complete, because if you go to see my other stories you will notice they are all Inuyasha.

This change came as I suddenly felt the urge to read some Bleach fictions. That was 3 days ago. Now I'm hooked.

Anyways, enjoy the first chapter of my collection fiction, Unattached. So far, I have 14 different ideas (I came up with them at work. Eh, it was a slow day, okay?). So, don't be afraid to tell me what you think. Constructive criticism is welcomed, flames are not!

First chapter, I have no clue how I came up with it, is called... -drum roll- (Oh, P.S. - most of you may want to look at the Author Note at the bottom)

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**First Collected:**

**Compromise**

**---**

Ever since Rukia had come into Ichigo's life, his who world had flipped upside-down and completely screwed itself. Throughout the series of events that occurred – because of her, no doubt – had he never been pushed so far over the edge to be legally considered 'insane', but now he was feeling the balance of that slowly tilting to the side.

To make it clear, imagine a teeter-toter with one end labeled 'Sane' and the other labeled 'Insane' with the only thing that could change the weight difference was a white rabbit. Right now, it was hopping towards 'Insane'.

Why a rabbit? Well, maybe that's what was making him go nuts because a _rabbit_ was currently being rubbed in his face, so close that he could feel the twitching of it's whiskers.

"Rukia, get that thing out of my face."

Rukia pulled the rabbit back, appalled. She examined the rabbit herself, trying to find out what was wrong with it. After a second she came to the conclusion that there was nothing wrong with the adorable bunny, but rather something was wrong with Ichigo.

"Come on, Ichigo! It's only the cutest thing ever!" Wow. Those were only 6 words Ichigo would never thought he'd hear from Rukia.

Again, she crammed the white hare in his face. "I said no – we're not getting it!" He huffed before muttering a string of words along the lines of "Come to the pet store for one thing for Yuzu, just to be nice, and look what happens...".

"Come on!" She whined again, pulling the rabbit back a second time. She glanced up at him from underneath her eyelashes with her violet eyes, pouting. Ichigo winced. That was _not_ fair, by any means.

"No, we don't have room for it anyways. The apartment's already crammed – there's no room to put it in the living room or anywhere near there and there is no way in hell I'm keeping it in my room."

"What about my room...?" The pout still hadn't left her face. To avoid it, Ichigo glared at the hamster food tucked under his arm. Why did his dad get Yuzu a hamster anyways?

"No, your room is more cluttered than any of the other rooms."

"I could clear stuff out of the way...?" She suggesting, attempting to bargain. Ichigo cursed, internally. He was pretty damn sure that Rukia never got everything she wanted in the Soul Society so why would she get whatever she wanted in the human world?

"Look, if you want a damn rabbit so bad..." Oh he had something planned. This was gunna either shoot her down or make her extremely angry, and hopefully, she would forget about the rabbit. "... we could pick up some rabbit from the butcher shop and get Yuzu to cook some." The scowl on his face deepend. Scratch the shoot her down – she was definitely gunna be pissed.

She was. "How could you even say such a thing! How could you even _think _such a thing?! That's despicable!" Every second, she hugged the red-eyed creature closer to her body. Ichigo rolled his eyes and groaned.

"You know, that was just a joke."

Then she kicked him in the shins. _Hard. "_It was not! You actually meant it!"

He ignored the obvious, even if a part of his brain was going "Damn, she's good."

"Come on, Rukia. We're leaving, no discussion." His eyes shifted from side to side. People were starting to stare...

Then, Rukia resorted back to begging. "Oh, please, Ichigo! I promise I'll take care of it an I'll pay for it, too!" This was different. She was sounding like the child and he wasn't. Anyone else scared?

"It's not happening, Rukia. Begging and trying to deal are getting you no where." As an after-thought he added with a snort, "How would you pay for it anyways? With my money, lemme guess?"

"Yes."

Did she even understand what sarcasm was? "Rukia..." He began with a stern look.

She started to pout again and he eyes watered, childishly. His expression wavered and the glare softened slightly. She must of seen it because she resorted to one more compromise.

Voice soft, she said, "I won't draw for examples any more...?"

"Hey, what do you want for the rabbit?"

**

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**Word Count : **716

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Congratulations to those of you who are actually reading this author note as well – impressive. There are a few things you may want to know about Unattached. 

The majority of these collections are IchigoxRukia. Don't like it, I suggest you don't read my 'story' anymore, because whatever is left that is not the majority will not have any pairing at all. For the time being though, there are only Ichigo x Rukia, even if it is only the slightest, minuscule fluff.

Also, not all of these drabbles will be romance x humor. As you may have seen, the category is general x romance. -smile- Everyone needs a good Angst here and there, even if it may completely suck coming from me.

Second last, I do not know when I will get a chance to update. I'm not exactly what someone would label as 'reliable' when it comes to that sort of thing because I haven't updated my Inuyasha story in, oh, at least 2 months now. Then again, I'm in writers block for that one, but still.

Last thing, as I mentioned above, criticism is welcomed – flames are not. Wanna flame? Go set your school on fire.

Alright, that's all I have to say for now.

Hearii-sama


	2. Awe

Alright! Chapter two up! I was too lazy and preoccupied to write it till now. Preoccupied because we get to go to Quebec for our year-end trip! Wootness!

It's a big deal for me, okay? After 9 years of being treated like a baby, I finally get to graduate and move onto a whole new school.

**---**

**Second Collected:**

**Awe**

**---**

_Dammit,_ Rukia swore in her mind, as she fell one knee. Her head bowed and she held the gash on her stomach, blood squirting through her fingers which dyed them a deep red colour. With her other hand, she balanced her small frame and braced herself for impact. _Why was I so stupid as to let that happen?_

She struggled to raise her body to the hollow to show it she wasn't about to give up. All that came up was her head. Rukia's eyes widened considerably as she nearly missed Ichigo's bold move of jumping directly in front of the enemy. Her lips parted to shout his name, to warn him that he was going to get hurt, but it was not needed because in a split second a soul-slayer was brought down on the hollows mask. Only bits of dust floating in the air were left after that.

Ichigo, who had fallen gracefully to the ground, ran over to Rukia and squatted down in front of her. He smirked smugly. "Sorry I didn't listen – I just had to get in the way of _your_ fight." Stupid, saracstic voice.

The violet eyes that held awed gratitude shifted to eyes of anger. "Baka," she rasped. "You could have gotten yourself killed, pulling that stunt. I could have handled it all on my own thank you very much!"

Ignoring her rant, Ichigo stood with his back to her and slung his sword over his shoulder while surveying their surroundings. The wind had started to pick up and tousled his bright hair around from where he stood on the building's rooftop.

Besides the movement of wind that picked up every small, loose object in it's path, everything was still. Suddenly, Ichigo turned to face Rukia – who was still crouched on the ground – and stared at her.

Moonlight bounced of Ichigo's Zanpakuto, giving it an unnatural-looking effect, and an unexpected thought ran through Rukia's mind.

_For a while now... Ichigo actually looks..._

The silence was only there between the two for a moment before Ichigo suddenly spoke up, cutting off all traces of thought. "So, am I gunna have to carry you back, midget?"

In the end, Ichigo walked home with a limp.

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**Word count: 373 **

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	3. Oppressed

**Notice! Important!:** I'm looking for someone reliable to help me get off my butt and start updating here and someone that could also pose as an unofficial-editor. If anyone is interested either say so in your review or PM me. If more than one person volunteers I will either a) take more than one person as an editor or b) look at the work of those who volunteered. After all, I did say I wanted someone reliable and someone that could be able to spot out mistakes and give me constructive criticism, not someone that makes a ton of mistakes in there own work and doesn't see what could be improved.

_Job Details(in chronological order here)_

_-Getting me out of my more-than-often writers block! Number one importance!_

_-Helping me spot either minor or major flaws to the snippets._

_-Correcting spelling and grammar._

_-Suggesting on what can be improved and what they liked in the story. Pointing out what you liked can make write similar to that and give me a confidence boost!_

_-Suggesting ideas for future snippets._

_-Suggesting ideas for the story in general. (Ex. - Layout, summary etc.)_

So, if you have some spare time and are willing to help me out, lemme know. It's greatly appreciated and I'd love you all if you did tried this thing out for me!

Now, on with the drabble!

**---**

**Third Collected:**

**Oppressed**

**---**

I didn't know if I was supposed to be here, or how I arrived here, or even why I was here but no matter what the answers I was still in this bleak place. Through my eyes I could see I was suspended over an ocean which was about the same gray colour as the sky above me. I couldn't see how I was hovering in the air, but whatever held me up this high was also holding me in place, therefore immobilizing me. I couldn't kick my legs, or hold up my arms or even open my mouth, which seemed to be glued shut. All I knew at the moment was that dreary sea below me and the blank sky above me.

I didn't know this place and that's what frightened me. I didn't know what was going on and that frightened me even more. But, the most frightening thing of all of this was not knowing what was going to happen to me. A strange feeling of terror warned me that something dreadful was about to happen.

Maybe seconds, or minutes or hours passed but the feeling of excruciating torture didn't stop. My eyes, never blinking in fear of missing little details that could be vital to this sensation, wandered across the water searching for it's end. It never came.

Then, at the direct top of my vision, I spotted something different. A small dot of pure black water lazily drifted down from the dingy clouds, trailing past me lower and lower until it almost dropped into the ocean. I could hear the small 'plop!' of water landing on water and saw as the blackness of the drop drifted outwards from where it landed. But no matter how much the black spread, it never diluted even with the ocean's vastness. It just swept over the ocean, leaving it a terrifying pitch black with no wind howling over it or waves crashing together. The ocean was dead.

And then, to my amazement, another similar thing happened. Another drip of water, so like the other one yet so different, sped past me. The only detail different about it was that this time it was pure white and didn't contrast against the grayness of the sky like the black one. I tried to reach out to stop it from touching the charcoal deadness below me, trying to save it from being swallowed whole, but to no avail. In my amazed state I had forgotten about being bound by an invisible force. To my aggravation I had no choice but to watch the drop grow closer and closer the the dark sea.

I watched anxiously, waiting for a long time to see what would happen once the white touched the black, even though it look longer to wait on the black drop when it fell from the sky. There was a great soaring within me, as I realized this white drop could be my salvation – the thing to break me from the invisible binds. I tried my hardest to not think about what would happen if the white was not supposed to help me. After all, white represented me.

Within the last few meter the drop had to go my anxiety turned over to horror as there was a hesitation, only for a split second. As if it was decided, the bead shot itself into the pitch blackness of the water leaving a streak of air in it's path, greatly noticeable when the air reveled the bottom of the ocean – white sand. And that's when the howling started again.

The black sea roared more furiously than when I first arrived. The water churned around, gaining waves that waves grew higher and higher until it all stopped again. It seemed the sheet of water was at peace again.

And then, moments later the deafening sounds of rushing air greeted me, screeching a song of raw hate in my ears. The black waters curled itself around me like crushing fingers, tearing me from my invisible stand. It dragged me downwards to the white sand and it was then that I found my mouth again and screamed. Still, I wasn't able to hear the noise that may have been comforting at the very least over the angry yells of the ocean.

The whitened sand wasn't here to help me at all, but merely end my spiraling downwards with a horrific crash! It had betray me, and swallowed me up, running itself over me, trapping me, choking me. This white was going to be my demise, and that was it's only intention I convinced myself. I wasn't even aware of if the waters were still with me; bigger problems were distracting me and everything in my mind was becoming a jumbled haze.

And yet, through all this, I could only think of how my arms and legs were still bound as I was drowned in the depths of a pure sand.

---

In the end, I was very shocked to find myself wrapped up in familiar arms. Eyes wide with raw fear and bewilderment I clutched on to the arm not daring to look up or to speak. I didn't trust my mouth and was sure everything would come out in a mixed up mess. Instead I opted for burring my face into his chest. His hand lightly gripped on my top shoulder, his other hand cradling my legs. In this room I knew there was nothing to fear. In his arms I knew there was nothing to fear.

I wasn't aware of how long had past, but suddenly, when his fingers started to turn white due to pressure, I realized he was gripping my shoulder a bit harder each passing minute. Through the thin fabric of my nightgown I could feel his skin and how frigid it was becoming. A sense of panic gnawed away at my mind as I looked up at him finally to ask what was wrong, why he suddenly had this hostel feeling to him. That soon all clouded over and a dreadful chill ran down my spine. Everything in my mind told me to push him away and run, run as fast as I could to get away from him. But instead my stomach held me in place, or rather, the coiling knots at the bottom of it did.

He spoke in that voice, a mix of every emotion laced with deadly malice. The voice wasn't his own – couldn't be his own. It didn't belong to the man I knew:

"What's wrong, Rukia?" I started to shake violently. His sickly yellow eyes mocked me.

"Had a nightmare?"

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**Word Count: **1107

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I know, I know. It's been forever for something like **this**? I'll be the first to openly admit, yes, it was probably awful. It didn't come out as great as I would have liked it but I had to get it off my chest. At least I got something out, right? 

Okay, well there are 1000 excuses as to why it took me so long for my brain to thwart out this piece, but not one acceptable reason. I swear (not really), I will try (not likely, so don't hate me) to get the next piece out by Monday.


	4. Interlude

A/N: **sing-song voice **I'm backkk! I bet it was sooner than you all expected, ne? Well, I couldn't let my two dear new editors get all tensed on their first chapter of the job because I haven't written it yet!

Yes, I did say **two** new editors! That would be the gracious BleedingSaro and dinem! Ah, you guys rule! -

But it's not because of my two new editors (SKREE! I still can't get over it!) that I've added this a/n. No, it's because of one announcement and also a different, less happy matter. For me, at least.

First matter is first! If you go to my profile right now I have added a little something. It is called "Adopt a Chibi!" Details for that are on the profile so check it out!

Second matter, the more saddening one, is the lack of reviews I've been getting. Did you know that for the last chapter I had I only got one actual review (in total I got 2 reviews but the first one was just from BleedingSaro to ask to be editor. I still appreciate even that though) but I had over 50 hits? I know it's just expected to have more hits than reviews but come on people! The ratio was 1 review per 25 hits! Ya really gotta do better than that. Even though the chapters in the story are just drabbles I think I deserve a helpful word or two in between. If not, I seriously threaten to discontinue the story. It's not like I'm asking for you guys to do something difficult either, so gimme a break.

But, this also means that this chapter is dedicated to dinem and BleedingSaro! The only people who gave a comment and a care in the world for this small story among the hundreds out there! So please enjoy the latest chapter of Unattached...

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**Fourth Collected:**

**Interlude**

---

For a long time now Kon has known Ichigo wasn't what you could consider your 'average teen'.

For obvious reasons too.

For one, he paraded around in the world of the dead wielding a huge-ass sword, defeating anyone that tried to send him away (after all, he **was** an intruder). He nearly died many times, just to reach the tallest tower on the tallest cliff so he could save his 'damsel in distress' (and Kon knew, very well in fact, that if Rukia _ever_ found out he called her that she would serve his head on a silver plater).

Second, he had a split personality; if you could even call it that. One that was sadistic, deathly pale and always tried to kill the real Ichigo. Ichigo had many battles with his inner beast, coming out as the King during each one. Yet Kon knew that Ichigo feared his Hollow side – of course he knew, because like it or not, Ichigo muttered in his sleep.

But aside from the fact that Ichigo battled in a different, more dead that alive realm, had (actually, still does have...) a Hollow inside of him and managed to score in the top 50 for exams at school, you can still tell Ichigo Kurosaki is not normal.

Of course Kon was referring to his taste in women. What else?

_Normal_ teenage boys were infatuated with anything with great legs and a chest. Normal teenage boys flirted and acted perverted (Well, most anyways. Kon had heard that Ichigo's friends were infamous for it). Normal teenage boys did anything for a cute girl, especially if there was the slightest chance they could get anything from them. But not Ichigo – of course not Ichigo.

Ichigo was rude, mean (to him at least) and not what you would call a 'ladies man', and was not even slightly fazed by girls like Matsumoto Rangiku and Inoue Orihime. But instead Ichigo was interested in the worst (for Kon) of them all...

...his precious nee-san.

This, obviously, shocked Kon to the core of his soul when he found out Rukia liked him back.

His Rukia deserved someone better than Ichigo. Someone tougher, yet sensitive to all of her needs. Someone that could carry them in the toughest times of their relationship but let her be in control if she wanted. Someone like him.

_Rukia loves me._ Kon ran his plushie paw along the brick wall of the alley

way wall as he thought to himself. A few hungry cats stared at him eagerly, looking for a meal, but it was nothing he couldn't handle.

_Rukia loves me_, he repeated to himself. _You'd have to be mentally handicapped not to see it. She adores me, but is not ready for commitment, of course. She's just taking a small break, for our relationship's sake. She'll be back to me in no time. _Kon let out a dreamy sigh at the thought of being in his precious nee-san's arms once more.

_This whole Ichigo thing means nothing. Just letting Rukia have her space right now would be the best thing. _He pondered the thought for a moment as he walked around, narrowly avoiding his foot getting stuck in a gooey pile of trash. _But first..., _he continued in his mind,_ ...I have to make sure she's aware I haven't given up on her!_

And with fire lit in his beaded eyes, Kon tore himself away from the stenches of the alleyway towards the general direction of the Kurosaki household.

After the treacherous journey up the ninety-degree angle up side of the clinic, the side with Ichigo's bedroom window, Kon peeped past the glass pane, only to see that the room looked empty. But after a second scan around the cramped room, the mod soul looked down. Almost immediately he turned his back to the window and jumped off the window sill.

Of course, this was **after** he saw the... ahem... compromising position Ichigo and Rukia were in on top of the single bed, still in their school uniforms (thank the Gods for that, at least. Even though it did mean they didn't have the control to wait until they could change into normal clothing).

Again, with fire still in his eyes, Kon ran off but in the direction of the Inoue household. Orihime would be welcoming, and warmly invite him into her Valley of the Gods. Kon could definitely rely on the kind girl, a girl he could confess about how Rukia was going through a faze and would be back to him in no time. Right now, he and the Shinigami-girl were just taking a break. At this stage in the relationship they had it was normal for her to want an adventure.

He just wasn't quite sure why she chose Kurosaki...

But still, fear not, Because Rukia was going through a faze. Soon enough they would be back together! Of course, they were just taking a little break for the moment.

**

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**Word Count: 827**

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A/N: A quick thing I thought to myself while writing this: Did Kon just call most (I hope) of us mentally handicapped?

_Begging now, please review!_


	5. Climactic

A/N: Hello people! Hearii here with another drabble but first an important (Eh... not really...) message!

---

Tired of fighting with other rabid fangirls for the right to own your favourite anime characters?

Sick of not being able to prove they're yours?

Well feel that way no more! Now, for a limited time only, **you** can own your own anime character; chibi style!

Choose from our amazing inventory with all your favourite animes: Bleach, Inuyasha, Naruto, Death Note, Fruits Baskets, DNAngel, Fullmetal Alchemist and that's it because I don't wanna make this too complicated!

Details on my profile. I do not own any anime, so you are not liable to sue me in any way or form.

---

Er... okay... then...

Even though no one pays attention to it, I'm going to put a warning.

**Warning!: **Spoilers from the Soul Society Arc (only very little but still...) and the Arrancar Arc. Also, (**gasp**) Ichigo thinks a bad word!

**Note: **Do not ask me which Arrancar Espada is in this – I have no clue myself.

---

Fifth Collected:

Climactic

---

Of all the stupid things he did for her, this had to take the cake.

Ichigo really wanted to ask Yoruichi why she didn't give him pointers on shunpo when she taught him how to use it.

...then again, Yoruichi would have told Ichigo that what he just did was a given 'what-not-to-do'.

Seriously, who flash steps down a cliff?

Of course, what Ichigo was doing could be considered 'noble'. After all, he guessed Rukia was going to have trouble saving herself under the circumstances that she had been knocked out and thrown off a cliff by an Arrancar Espada. At least it _seemed_ like a difficult feat to the Vizard boy.

He didn't know what led him to do something so reckless, and he was sure that everyone else in the battle would have gawked at him for it if they weren't preoccupied, but after deflecting the Arrancar's sword Ichigo left the battlefield with a single thought:

_Why does it always seem like I have to save her ass?_

And that's what led him where he was now; racing down a 90 degree angle (minus the jagged bends and turns of rock).

Nothing he couldn't handle.

With every shunpo he used Rukia's form grew closer and closer, but he sadly realized that even though he'd make it to her in time he wasn't going to be able to race back up the side of the cliff. In other words, he was going to hit the ground.

This was going to **kill**.

The landing was as dramatic as you could imagine. Of course it was. Ichigo started noticing that anything life-threatening that revolved around him was always dramatic. It was never something quick and painless, an easy-solved resolution. He suddenly hated his life in the instant he realized that, but he could dwell on that later.

Of course he had grabbed the Shinigami girl's limp form only a split second before it hit the rocky ground, swinging their bodies around so he was the one who would hit the ground first. After all, what was the point of being stupid like he was if it would be worth nothing? He couldn't let her take the worst of the blow.

The moronic things he did for her... it made it seem as if he had no sense of self-preservation.

The most climactic part of the fall was the huge crash into the ground. Mostly, it just ended up in dirt and debris of rocks spraying up into the air, leaving a rough outline of where Ichigo landed which made it impossible to see if anyone was looking over the edge of the cliff, wondering if he had survived the tremendous fall – if anyone, it would be Orihime. But, Ichigo was surprised as well when he had still come out conscious, fully aware of the sounds of the battle above him, Rukia's chest rising and falling (Thank God) and the horrible aching he now felt. He really could do without that part.

After the full minute it took him to regain a regular breathing pattern – or breathing at all for that matter – Ichigo noticed that his vision was becoming blurred around the edges, slowly gathering momentum; a sure sign he was going to pass out. Fan-fucking-tastic.

An odd thought passed through his mind as he waited for the unconscious state to take over: he wondered who would think it was stupid for him to do something as rash as shunpo down a cliff side and who would think it was good that he did.

First was obvious – Byakuya would think it was stupid, even if Rukia was his 'sister'.

The next one came easy. Toushirou – _Hitsugaya-taichou!_ - would think it was stupid. That midget –_ Shut up!_ - always had to find flaws in everything and would explain that there was an easier way to have saved her.

Renji would say it was stupid as well, but secretly he would be relieved.

He dreaded the women's reaction. Most of them would find it sweet or adorable and start looking at him funny from then on. Rangiku would never shut up about it, which was the worst of all the women.

Yachiru was a hard one to determine, because frankly, no one really knows what goes on in that too-excited brain of hers. Most likely, she would just ramble.

The worst one of all would be Zaraki Kenpachi. He would bark out a laugh, then draw his sword and demand a fight.

He hated not only his life now, but the world too.

The good thing about all of this, the only good thing, was that he knew it would never happen again. Not because he wouldn't rescue her again, or that she wouldn't make the mistake of letting herself fall off a cliff again. It was because nothing is as dramatic the second time round. And Ichigo's life had to be as dramatic as possible, it seemed.

Word Count: 815

A/N: Well, there ya go! New chapter and I have to say, I'm quite proud of it. The only thing I had trouble with was figuring out the ending – distressed/reckless Ichigo is so easy to write in my opinion. All you have to do is write little, pointless thoughts he has during explanations of things.

It is true, about the drama. Anime just isn't anime if there's no drama around it at some point; and Bleach is full of it too!


	6. Contradicting

A/N: Yea, to any fans who care, I know it's late. But here's the scoop, in order.

1) Family vacation for a week

2) Return, only to get sick for a few days.  
3) Got addicted to '_Eclipse_' and '_Ouran High School Host Club_' (Okay, that's not much of a reason...)

4) Omfg, first year of high school in 6 days! Ahhh!

Yea, so that's my reasons in a nutshell.

Thanks to **karenkate-kitty**, **dinem**, **Akane12345**, **Deus Misereatur** and **nemesis** for reviewing the last chapter! -

Warning!: Small spoiler in around the Arrancar Arc.

---

Sixth Collected:

Contradicting

---

_'But first you must learn how to smile as you kill'_

_Working Class Hero_

_---_

Ichigo sighed as he stepped onto the rainy streets once again that day.

It felt like he had been searching for Rukia for days now, even though in reality it had only been five hours. He found it rather annoying how the shinigami girl would just vanish into thin air sometimes – without a word, too. For her to have the nerve to just disappear; Yuzu was pretty much bawling at home ever since the Kurosaki family woke up, and Rukia was nowhere to be found.

He wasn't worried for her at all, though. He knew better than anyone that she was someone who could take care of herself very... efficiently... if she was in trouble, especially since her powers were back. The only reason he was searching was for his sister's sake.

It also didn't help the situation when his dad flipped on the TV to the news, only to learn that there was a wanted criminal around their area. To be honest, Ichigo would be more frightened for the guy on the loose, if he ever came into contact with Rukia. Him beaten into the ground like a piece of chewing gum, a small girl hovering menacingly over the guy, with an odd gleam in her eyes...

The searching boy shuddered and rubbed his sore shoulder, knowing the damage she could cause. He was reminded of their argument last night – boy, she packed a hell of a punch. But what was that argument even about? He couldn't even tell. He came to realize that last night Rukia had been very irritable – more irritable than normal. This couldn't be about their fight, could it? She wouldn't run away over something so petty, would she? Maybe he called her a midget one too many times...

And now, Ichigo stood outside of the small store, cursing that he swore she would have been there among the Crappy – err, Chappy merchandise.

Ichigo decided to turn back and go a different way rather than go home like he had planned. He kept telling himself '_one more place, then go home!_', but he always ended up searching another. And then another. And then another. As much as he dreaded it, he turned right towards the northern part of town. Maybe Ishida had seen her for some reason...

The boy scratched the back of his head with his right hand – the other held the large, black umbrella that raindrops loudly bounced off, rolling down the sides in streams. Ichigo peered at the sky from under the umbrella.

"Jeez," he muttered, no interest in his tone. "It sure is comin' down."

He continued his trek through the rain silently after that, and, in about five minutes, he found his way to the downtown bridge. He stopped for a moment to watch as the cars drove by, some screeching honks at others, some gliding effortlessly in the heavy downpour. Either way, Ichigo knew he was about 20 feet away from the busy road, yet somehow the road was nearly invisible through the sheets of heavy rain.

That was why he almost missed her.

There was Rukia sitting on the river bank, drenched to the bone. Ichigo growled something deadly under his breath about a stupid idiot who was going to get sick.

As he started to walk closer to her, he realized she still hadn't noticed him. She just sat there – knees pulled up and tucked under her chin, her blue dress pooled around her sides and feet, hair stuck to her back and cheeks. Odd; normally she noticed him before he even noticed her.

He knew he should be questioning why she was sitting out in the rainstorm. Then again, this was Rukia, one who always had a way of doing things differently. Enough said.

As he slowly made his way from the sidewalk to the slippery grass he wondered if she was just ignoring him. He thought about the date, but quickly came to the conclusion that it was not her birthday, it was not the date of any important battle where something or someone had been lost, it was not the date of anyone he knew of that had died...

No bad news had been broken lately, no one was seriously injured... actually, nothing had happened recently. Everything had been unnaturally sound in his life, even the small-fry hollow.

But something must be wrong, he concluded. He was only 5 feet behind her and she still didn't look up.

Four feet...

Three...

Two...

One...

It took till he was directly beside her to get any reaction. She looked up. Ichigo almost dropped his umbrella.

She stared at him, her eyes showing nothing and everything. Dull and full of emotion; innocent and knowing; _dead _and _alive_.

He clenched his fist at his side. Dammit, he _knew_. He knew that look! He would see it once a year, maybe more and even then it was hard to stand. His nails dug into his palm till he felt the warm liquid of drawn blood. He stared back at her.

He knew that look. He was familiar with it. He saw it in the mirror on the day of his mother's death.

To see her have that look almost made him turn away. Something had happened, not this day, but many ago. Something not good. His hand relaxed. Something far from good.

Now what was he to do? He knew this situation. Longing to be comforted and told it was not your fault, yet wanting everyone to just disappear and leave you and tell you it _was_ your fault. It was a hopeless situation.

The two continued to stare at each other while Rukia sat on the muddy grass, water running down her face. Ichigo wondered if she was thankful to be sitting out in a storm, wondering if she was crying yet the rain covered it up.

Then, Ichigo remembered why he was here, why he was standing in the rain and watching someone else's pain flash in their eyes. Slowly, like he was trying not to startle the girl, Ichigo bent down and dropped the handle of the umbrella into Rukia's lap. She finally looked away from him and at the curved end of the umbrella now sheltering her. She turned back to Ichigo silently, confusion in her eyes. She was wondering what he was going to do now. He didn't care – he'd go home in the rain because he knew it was better for him to have to walk 20 minutes in the rain than for her to sit another few hours in it.

There was more silence between the two as Ichigo stared out at the bridge over the umbrella, feeling Rukia's questioning gaze on him. A small smile tugged on the corners of his lips. Again slowly, he turned around and started to walk home.

He didn't get very far before he looked over his shoulder. Rukia sat on the grass, her eyes turned back at the rushing current of the water in front of her.

She clutched onto the umbrella like a lifeline.

**Word Count:** 1185

A/N: I have to say I'm pretty damn proud of this piece, even if it wasn't funny or exciting. The only thing I had trouble with was ending it and a title. Which is why some of you may be like 'Hey... why the hell is her title 'Contradicting' when it had nothing to do with that?' Well, it was hard for me to think of one but I decided to go with the emotions that played across Rukia's eyes – how they were dead but alive etc. etc. I hope I didn't lose some of you with that (eheh).


	7. Tease

A/N: I'm back with a new, easily written chapter! Seriously, quickest yet and I don't think it's too-too bad. Maybe not good by some standards and comparisons but the readers are the judge! Please, leave an opinion if you have one.

But I wanna thank everyone – I got so many reviews and notifications for story favourites/alerts additions last chapter and it made me so happy! Thanks guys, you don't know how much that means to get so much positive feedback!

On with the chapter. It's what you're here for, isn't it?

---

**Seventh Collected:**

**Tease**

---

In my opinion, Kurosaki-san is oddly funny.

Seriously! I mean, he's fifteen and acts exactly like Hitsugaya-san which is ridiculous when you consider the tenth captain's age, despite his appearance. Not to mention, Kurosaki-san is always trying to balance the world on his shoulders – I hope I'm there when he tips over, if you know what I mean.

Of course, by tip over I mean that he becomes insane. The perfect trait to becoming a captain! Good lord, we know we need new ones; just look at Kurotsuchi...

But for him to have gotten so agitated and fidgety over something silly as this really made me want to get Tessai to grab the camcorder. Even Yuroichi looked like she was about to go over and hug the shaky, naive boy.

Whether it was because she found it cute, or if it would have made the situation even more embarrassing for him is beyond me.

I suppose people could say that this was my fault, that I was soon to end up a mangled corpse (that's considering I wouldn't defend myself. I think I've already proved to him that I can still hold my own even though I was exiled). But none the less, I didn't regret teasing him at all.

Hm... actually, if you think about it, this could be considered his fault too. It was his own accusations that dug him down. My word, he did turn a _harmless _conversation about his relationship with Kuchiki-san into something completely different.

Oh, that perverted boy; I think Isshin may be a bit proud.

_"...the hell are you talking about?! There is no freakin' relationship between Rukia and I!"_

_"My, my, Ichigo. Don't go twisting our words around – I never said there was a relationship between you too. Kisuke and I were merely commenting on how you two could be secrete lovers."_

Abarai-san scowled at the last few words Yuroichi said through her smirk. It's a good thing Kuchiki-san wasn't here or we could have a real fight on our hands. Kurosaki-san was only able to start up real trouble when someone was in dange--

Wait, never mind. There was just a sudden spike in his reiatsu.

_"How the hell did it come to **that**?!" _

_"Well it is a bit strange that you two had never called each other in formalities – it's always been 'Ichigo' and 'Rukia' with you two; never 'Kurosaki-kun' and 'Kuchiki-san'."_

Ah, bless Matsumoto-san and her obnoxious behavior. She didn't have any problem piping up in this type of conversation.

And it did cause some damage. Kurosaki-san let almost started screaming profanities, which seemed to be a bit unlike him. Usually he wasn't this uncollected.

_"Ano,"_ Oh, Ururu was going to join? How pleasant! _"You might not want to be so loud. You might wake Rukia-chan."_

_"Yes, Kurosaki-san. You wouldn't want to wake her and then have to explain why you were screaming, would you?"_

He looked about to tear strand after strand of hair out of his head.

He was growing closer to the edge now, I could feel it.

_"Yes, you could hurt her feelings if she finds out that you're lying to people about your feelings for her."_

Now that was a bit surprising. You would think Ririn would be on Kurosaki-san's side.

But no matter, because the boy became so fed up that he threw his hands up into the air and spun around, walking out the door.

The Shoji screen door splintered when he shoved it closed.

Ishida pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

_"Not that I don't like teasing Kurosaki any less than the next person, but what will him being mad at us achieve?"_

_"Ah, good question! Well, it is my belief that it will help him go crazy, thus making him an available option to join the Gotei 13 as a future captain."_

Ishida-san gave me a curious glance because of this; yes, I do realize I was a former captain.

_"But why about Kuchiki-san, if there are so many other things to make him angrier?"_

Yoruichi beat me to the punch.

_"We can complete Plan A, Kurosaki Rukia. Two birds with one stone, Quincy. Two birds, one stone."_

* * *

**Word Count:** 717

* * *

I know it's not one of my better pieces... but I didn't know when I'd get the next chance to write so I did this in one sitting. High school is very hectic, especially traveling from class to locker to class. For some reason they decided to place my locker on the second floor when only my fourth period is there. Jerks. 

But on the plus side I had fun writing this chapter!

Please don't go around, spouting off to me how bad my grammar and spelling was for this chapter. I didn't have an editor. I can't blame **dinem**; she was telling me how she was starting college (well, college or something like it.) so I'm pretty much guessing she's working herself to death with that. Either that or she's dead.  
I have no idea what happened to **BleedingSaro **. She hasn't updated any of her stories, either, so she may have died as well confused face

Haha, just kiddin' guys!


	8. Illusion

A/N: So, pretty much as soon as I posted chapter 7 'Tease' I started writing this. I honestly love the idea, even if it is the ever-so-overused song fiction. I don't know if this piece will turn out exactly as I want it though – that usually happens with my writing.

Anyways, on with the mini-disclaimer.

Disclaimer: I do not own the song '_You_' by '_Breaking Benjamin_'. All rights belong to them.

Just a suggestion though – go onto the link and listen to this song. I find it so much easier to relate to the message in a song fiction after I listen to the song.

_Http // www .youtube. Com / watch ?vYT0 tgb1C Vuk_ **(delete spaces)**

For the record I may do another _Breaking Benjamin_ song fiction. I just love that band!

---

Eight Collected 

Illusion

---

It was the night she broke the mirror.

_My hands are broken,_

_And time is going on and on it goes;_

_Forever._

Rukia let out a bitter laugh at the reaction she had gotten; blood everywhere – smeared across the mirror, dripping over the sink, diluting in the water, covering her palms, all over her pajamas. The mirror had faired out well, in her opinion. It still managed to make her want to tear it off its hook and jam it into a nearby wall, shattering it into millions of pieces.

Instead of it fully breaking, the glass split off into large sections which managed to show her reflection several times over.

Rukia choked back a scream.

_So I got high and_

_Lived all that I have taken all_

_for granted._

She loathed mirrors ever since her life began as a Kuchiki. Rukia could take the flaws, the imperfections, the messiness of her reflection – she couldn't take the person who withheld all of that though. That person was a fake. Living a life not deserved, being something untouchable.

_Promise me you'll try_

_To leave it all behind,_

_'Cause I've elected hell_

_Lying to myself._

_Why have I gone blind?_

_Living all a lie._

A fraud.

_You._

A fake.

_You. _

A liar.

_The only way out_

_is letting your guard down_

_and never die forgotten._

A sad smile crept its way onto Rukia's lips as she dunked her torn hand into the water, dyed a dark ruby by now. She tried to find the bottom of the sink, looking past the surface. Nothing. Just like her.

She had no depth.

_Forgive me my love,_

_I stand here all alone and I can see_

_the bottom._

Many images played across the bloody water in the moonlight – many faces. Orihime... Sado... Ishida... all those who had a real life. All those who would find something buried under their mask. Unsurprisingly, Ichigo had come last to leave thoughts of him on her mind. Thoughts that shells should be forbidden to have.

"What the hell are you doing?"

_So promise me you'll try_

_To leave it all behind,_

_'Cause I've elected hell_

_Lying to myself._

_Why have I gone blind?_

_Living all a lie._

She slowly lifted her abused hand from the water to inspect it.

_You._

Many Ichigo's from the mirror watched her dunk it back into the water, all holding unbearably worried expressions. She could hardly stand to look; she didn't deserve it.

_You._

Yet, only the real one was truly concerned.

_You._

And somehow... she was fine with that.

_You._

She was an illusion.

_You._

It was better for him to be concerned with an illusion than to care for it.

_You._

Because if that was the case, and he did care, he would draw himself into an illusion.

**Word Count:** 334


	9. Tempo

A/N: pushes glasses up nose – Ishida style! Yea... I got new glasses. Two pairs in fact. No more squinting for me! But, it seems my family is intent on nerdifying me. Glasses and braces pretty much in the same month (No offense to those who already have that). Right now, I want to rip off my jaw.

Anyways, no really speech in this chapter – sorry, no IchiRuki battles of doom. Maybe next chapter.

---

**Ninth Collected:**

**Tempo**

---

High school gym class was awful.

And though others would beg to differ, like Keigo for instance, co-ed was the worst of all.

Why couldn't everyone just revert back to fifth-graders, when instead of running laps you played games like 'Capture the Flag'? Why do we have to stress over winning or losing for our team instead of taking part in good-natured co-operative games?

Sure, ever since I came back from the Soul Society I could of kicked ass in every sport and had the upper-hand on everyone. I only knew that myself, though. I couldn't show it – it would come as a shocker to most for me to shunpo across the finish line in a foot-race.

But still, the talent I _could_ show was of no use to me now! Hell, I know I've been told I've got good footing in battle. But could this really be considered a battle?

I stepped on Ryou's foot again and she let out an almost feral hiss.

Yes. Yes, it could.

Ducking my head away nervously, I slid my heel off of the angry girl's toes. It was about the fifth time in ten minutes I had done that, but I was sure that she wasn't angry because of her hurt feet. Behind Ryou, Tatsuki smirked evilly at me as Mizuiro spun her around gracefully.

I hate dance class.

I readjusted my arms on Ryou (which were promptly fixed by herself), and we set on our way again. I concentrated on my feet for the first few steps, hoping not to upset the girl or her grades in any way but after I got into rhythm my mind and eyes started to wander.

Someone in every pair seemed to have a problem, whether it be with their skill or partner. Keigo looked to be having some internal affairs with having Chizuru as a partner – by the sounds of it, the girl wouldn't stop complaining on how she wanted her precious 'Hime' to be in her arms. Keigo held his arms as far away as he could, also trying with all his might not to back away from the aggravated girl.

Chad and Inoue weren't as frayed as some others. In fact, they didn't seem to mind being so close together. Orihime was babbling on about... something... and Chad listened. But still, you could not deny the fact that the guy was absolutely _not _a dancing kind of person. In general, that pair just looked awkward together.

I looked back to Mizuiro and Tatsuki, who seemed to be about the only ones without any trouble, which kind of amazed me. The fact that Tatsuki wasn't also fumbling around on her feet, like me, was a shocker. Mizuiro, well... Mizuiro was kind of explainable. The guy had tons of older, sophisticate girlfriends that probably took him to banquet-like balls. Dancing would be necessary. But Tatsuki--

...Oops?

Ryou cringed in pain and I cringed in embarrassment. How did I manage to keep stepping on her feet?! I heard snickers all around me – apparently all those traitors I call friends were _waiting _for me to mess up again. Even Ochi-sensei could be seen covering her mouth with giggles.

"Ah, Kurosaki. I always suspected you weren't much of a dancer, but you seem to be even worse than expected."

Ishida – damn bastard. How come in class his insults even managed to sound polite? I readjusted myself – again badly enough to have to be fixed by my glaring partner – and we started again; dancing in tune with Ishida and Rukia. Great. Now I would have to endure glares from Ryou and insults from Ishida, all the while ignoring the midget-from-hell's sugar-coated giggles.

"Sorry," I snapped back. "I don't do girlie things like dancing and _sewing_." I could see his facial expression turn nasty, about to retort back.

Sadly, Rukia beat him to it.

"But Kurosaki-kun, dancing can be fun!" Oh, how that voice chalk-filled with everything sweet (plus a puppy or two) ticked me off. If only everyone knew she was really a-- "Here, let Ishida-kun and I show you!"

--bitch.

Ishida – the bastard – caught her drift and pulled Rukia a bit closer to himself. I can't imagine why, but my blood boiled for a moment. My face must've shown a damn funny expression because Ryou asked the most bizarre question:

"Jealous, Kurosaki-kun?"

I scoffed and rolled my eyes in annoyance. "Yea right."

" Oh." She smiled, hiding something. "So maybe you could stop concentrating on them and _get off my foot_?"

"Ah, sorry," I replied indifferently, averting my eyes from her glare, cold enough to freeze over the sun. There was a silence for a few seconds before Ryou spoke up again.

"You know, Kurosaki-kun, maybe you really should take a lesson from them." Them. I looked over at them – Ishida and Rukia – and my eyes widened. What the hell?

Everyone in this whole class should take a lesson from those two. Hell, they could _teach _this class! I watched as the two moved unbelievably gracefully, feet flowing into the next step, positioned perfectly, practically _gliding_.

A malicious titter rang through my head. "Envious, King." it was more of a statement than a question. "Such a stupid emotion."

"I'm not envious. Shut up," I mumbled pathetically. Ryou wasn't paying attention, at least.

It seemed that ever since I gained complete control over the hollow inside of me it spoke every once in a while. Good thing it didn't take over my body anymore. That would be a real disaster.

It giggled again. "Don't worry King. I'll be able to have some fun again eventually." I rolled my eyes. Empty threat.

"See, King," he drawled. "That's your problem. You're also too naïve, and that's what will bring your downfall. It's just another weakness of yours."

And you're too over-dramatic. It's not happening.

"We'll see."

And that was it for my conversation with my evil counterpart (as ridiculous as it sounds). Just in time too, because Ochi-sensei called out to us, "Alright girls, rotate to the next person on your right." People shuffled around for a moment before they arrived at their new partner. Tatsuki now waited in front of me. Oh, joy.

And it continued all over again, every misplaced foot, every glare, every insult. The only difference was a punch to my arm after a particularly rude comment, and the fact, and I couldn't deny it, that I was a bit more excited for the next switch.

My next partner was Rukia, and I would be sure to get her back for that stupid Ishida stunt. Let's see her keep up her innocent-schoolgirl act while pummeling me for stepping on her feet all the time.

It will be '_accidental_', of course.

* * *

**Word Count: 1142**

* * *

A/N: Nothing to say really, except this piece was longer than normal. Not the longest, but about 2nd. Also, I don't promote nor dislike any of the couples in this one-shot (except Ichigo/Rukia of course). 


	10. Rumors

A/N: I shamelessly added my friends, sister and myself into this chapter. Oh well, we're pretty pointless... not to mention if I weren't here (as in on the computer here) you wouldn't have a chapter.

I've added my first AMV [Beta to youtube, in case anyone's interested. My user is Hearii and feedback would be appreciated. -hint, hint-

---

**Tenth Collected:**

**Rumors**

---

It was an extremely hot, humid day in the Seireitei; an unsettling type of weather that had the Shinigami residents of the area restless and discontent. Cicadas buzzed annoyingly from within the trees, pestering just about anyone outside. But, due to the intense heat and the required black uniform, the Death Gods opted to stay _out _of the indoors. Some Shinigami didn't even bother doing their assigned work and spent their day leaning against a tree trunk in the semi-satisfying shade.

Two Shinigami girls, one from the fourth and the other from the seventh devision, relaxed against the bark of a tree on the forest tree line. Or rather, the fourth devision girl was working away on paperwork while the seventh devision dozed off. Slowly, the black-haired shinigami cracked an eye open.

"Oi. Hikaru." She grumbled lazily. The brunette refused to take her eyes off her work but let out a small hum in acknowledgment. "'Heard somethin' pretty int'resting today."

The younger Shinigami pulled her brush along the paper as a signature while she said, "Now Amaya, I never expected you to be one for gossip."

Silence. "Fine then. I won't tell you."

Minutes ticked by before the one named Hikaru set down her brush and paper on the grass beside her. Closing her eyes in defeat she spoke. "Okay, okay. What is it?"

"Now Hikaru," The older Shinigami mocked. "I never expected you to be one for gossip."

With that said, the brunette almost reached out to wring her friends neck. But she knew that it was too hot out to commit any murders today, not to mention Amaya would probably slap her into the tree trunk in retaliation. So instead, she settled for glaring. Her friend smirked.

"Just get on with it."

"'Kay then," Amaya snorted. "It's about Kurosaki-taichou and Kuchiki-fukutaichou." The other girl's blue eyes darkened with curiosity. "Dunno, the details are sketchy but Abarai-fukutaichou said..."

"...Hinamori-kun heard strange noises coming from the ninth devision superior quarters two nights ago." Renji took a sip of his sake and Matsumoto, Hisagi and even Iba leaned in with interest. They waited for him to finish, but he sure was taking his sweet time.

"Hurry up already!" Matsumoto's whine burst through the room. Renji set down his glass and smirked.

He continued. "Well, it came from Ichigo's wing and apparently it sounded like moans of pleasure coming from a woman. Rukia, to be specific." The other three gasped lightly.

"No way," Hisagi grinned. "He _actually_ got her?"

"Yea, I mean, we all knew they had a thing for each other but Kurosaki-taichou wouldn't even be done a third of his natural life by now. He's only been in the Soul Society for about five years, not to mention he's always got Kuchiki-taichou monitoring him." Iba said with a shake of his head. It was a wonder that Kurosaki-taichou was still around with the protective adoptive-sibling always on his tail because his sister was fukutaichou.

Matsumoto sighed and grinned evilly at the same time. "Imagine all the woman who will be crushed to hear this." Her smirk was mirrored by everyone at the thought of the chaos. The Shinigami Women's Association was going to have a lot to talk about... especially if Rukia was present.

"Tch. Don't bother even listening." A new voice spoke up. "It's not true." Hitsugaya leaned on the door frame of his office. "Matsumoto, why are you drinking at four in the afternoon when I just gave you paperwork to fill out an hour ago?"

The busty woman ignored the comment and avoided the bullet with her own question. "Ah, taichou! How would you know if it's true or not?"

Rolling his eyes the white-haired captain sat down with the four vice-captains and poured himself his own glass of sake. _He _was done today's work...

Now the fukutaichou hovered around him, waiting for information they could pass on later. Like Renji, he took a sip before saying, "I know because Hinamori-kun told me the story herself. The very night the 'event' happened, no less – she was on her way to the tenths superior quarters."

Curious glances were sent his way as the wheels in the Shinigami minds started formulating questions. Hitsugaya was taking another sip of his drink before the first question was asked by his fukutaichou... just not the question he expected.

"Hey wait; why would Hinamori-fukutaichou be on her way to the tenth sup--..." Iba trailed off. Hitsugaya choked on the sake he was drinking. Matsumoto and Hisagi exchanged sly glances while Renji patted the captain on the back either to help with the choking or to congratulate him.

"Taichou!" Matsumoto coos were cut off.

"Shut up!" The boy hissed, turning red. "That's not the point! What _is_ the point is that Hinamori-kun actually..."

" ... saw shadows that _looked_ like Kurosaki-taichou and Kuchiki-fukutaichou. I'm sure it's nothing though. They actually would have been arguing, you know. They seem to do that a lot!" Momo babbled nervously, hoping that she wouldn't be questioned about her late-night stroll like her childhood 'friend' was.

Ise Nanao pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose as she walked along the dirt path. "Maybe..."

"Maybe not," Nemu Kurotsuchi finished quietly. "They could have been--"

A high-pitched giggle broke out behind the group before a pink and black blur sped past the women. It skidded for ten feet before frolicking towards the sound of the gossip.

"They could have been making babies!" At the mere thought, Yachiru broke out into a fit of laughter.

Koutestu Kiyone gasped. "Kusajika-fukutaichou! Could you at least not yell out such things?"

"What?" She stared innocently at the group already worn out with the girl's antics. "Ken-chan told me to ask Bunny-Flower-chan about **it** when she came over and she told me _all_ about **it**!"

"Unohana-taichou told you?" Koutestu Isane asked, baffled. She mussed on the idea. "I knew Zaraki-taichou wasn't much of a man for talking, but he couldn't have told you himself?"

"Nope!" The pink-haired girl chirped. "He had to keep me away from _everyone_ in the devision so I wouldn't ask them before I asked Bunny-Flower-chan that night."

Nanao stopped for a moment, puzzled. "Wait. Why was Unohana-taichou even at the eleventh devision?"

Yachiru pressed a finger to her chin in thought. "Well..." she drawled cutely. "Unohana comes to the eleventh devision on her time off to take a headcount and see if everyone's still alive like they should be. Also, she has to give Ken-chan personal check-ups because she really, really, _really_ likes Ken-chan!"

The members of the group either gave horrified or mystified expressions. Zaraki and... Unohana...?

Suddenly, Yachiru gasped. "Now that you mention it, Bunny-Flower-chan told me something really interesting about Ichii! She said..."

"...Kurosaki-taichou has become very paranoid lately." Unohana Retsu told Kenpachi calmly, as she finished cleaning off the last of her stitching kit. "I think it's because of Kuchiki-taichou."

Zaraki snorted from his place on the chair. "Of Byakuya? How? The guy's sword is made of flowers. It's such a pussy zanpakuto – you can tell because Yumichika's jealous."

Unohana frowned unhappily. "I'll ignore that you just insulted one of your own squad, but I don't suggest straining your arm too much today. It was cut fairly deep and I would not want to go through the trouble of you complaining if I had to redo the job."

Zaraki grunted as Unohana examined the slash on his chest. "This one was close, though. Any deeper and it may have punctured your right lung. You really shouldn't tease Kurosaki-taichou so much for a spar to come to this type of wound."

Kenpachi grinned down at the woman, checking his older wound. "Eh. Whatever. So, tell me, why he's scared of Kuchiki and not me?"

The petite woman looked up at the man's scarred face and gave him a dry look. "Everyone knows Kurosaki-taichou has a close relationship with his fukutaichou, who also happens to be Kuchiki-taichou's sister. If those two decide to progress their relationship any further they'll need Kuchiki-taichou's permission.

"We already know that Kurosaki-taichou isn't on the greatest of terms with the other captain, so chances are Kuchiki-taichou will not approve in the slightest bit. Though it may not seem so, Kuchiki-taichou is very protective of his sister."

"When he's not out to kill her, that is." Kenpachi rolled his eyes. Unohana frowned but decided protesting wouldn't change his mind. Kenpachi continued, "Besides, I wouldn't be surprised – in fact, I'm pretty much certain Ichigo's already fuckin' his lieutenant." Unohana made the greatest attempt of a disgusted face a woman such as herself could. Sometimes she wondered why Yachiru could be so crude at such a young age, but then it all came back to the man who raised her.

"And what makes you have that assumption?" The doctor asked, sitting down beside the giant man and leaning against his arm, which was the highest point she could reach.

Again, Kenpachi scoffed. "Well, first off, it's plainly obvious! Second, though I really don't care for socializing with weak idiots, I did here something from that wimpy third lieutenant What's-his-face."

"Kira," Unohana corrected.

"Right, right. Anyways, he was talking about his trip to the human world and came into contact with Ichigo's Old Man – hell, I wish I coulda battled the guy who made someone as strong as Ichigo! - and so What's-his-face was talkin' about how..."

"...the taichou's father was ecstatic, something about a child." Kira took a sip of his tea. The seventh seat who sat across from him gasped lightly.

After a minute of silence Akuya let out a small disbelieving laugh. "No way," she shook her head a bit before picking up her own cup of tea. She looked down at her reflection in the drink and asked, "Did Kurosaki-taichou and Kuchiki-fukutaichou actually tell him? Because I've heard his father wasn't all there, if you know what I mean."

Kira sighed and looked off the patio and into the third division recreational field. Yes... he had heard that too... "It seems that Kurosaki Isshin had been spouting off the news to everyone; he'd overheard the two talking when they came for a visit and, well... Rukia's pregnant. A smile broke out across both the third devision faces.

"This is too good, too good." Kira laughed. Just thinking about those two having a child... how much uproar it would cause in the Seireitei... it was nearly enough to pass off as unimaginable.

"Yea," Akuya chuckled, but suddenly stopped and expression turned serious. "What will Yamamoto-soitaichou do when he finds out, do you think?"

As if just thinking about this himself, which was probably true, Kira paused and mirrored Akuya.

"Maybe it would be best not to tell people, Akuya-san." He muttered. The both sighed with newly dampened moods.

About five minutes passed with little to no conversation.

"Maybe just a few people," Akuya burst suddenly.

"Yea, a few wouldn't hurt."

The halls of the ninth devision buzzed with liveliness and giggling by girls everywhere. There was nearly no where anymore where you couldn't hear about the newest rumors or take part in gossip. It didn't matter who you were... and this applied to all captains and vice captains, even Ichigo and Rukia.

While everyone was expected to be working away, a group of five or six girls huddled together in a bunch of hushed talking and light giggling. All of these girls were dressed in the typical shinigami uniform, ignoring the heat with chatter and gossip about a specific couple. Ironically, this couple decided to turn the corner and come into the hall where the girls were.

All the girl's froze as they spotted the two. _Those_ two. Somehow, the way Kuchiki-fukutaichou fell a step behind Kurosaki-taichou wasn't like with every other captain and vice captain when you imaged what the two did behind closed doors.

"Of course it's true. It's gotta be! Hisagi-fukutaichou told me himself." A girl with jet-black hair finished a though from before.

"Che." A tall brunette scoffed. "It might not be! Why not go ask them yourself? They're coming this way!"

The other girl shook her head violently. "No, Hoshi! Why don't _you_?" She challenged, nose in the air.

Placing hands on her hips, Hoshi straightened up even more, looming over the smaller girl. "Fine," She sniffed. "I will!" With the last comment that left the other girls with raised eyebrows, Hoshi stalked off towards the pair who looked at her with mild interest. Suddenly, she felt her courage wear off... none the less, she continued on.

When the girl was about five feet away from her taichou she bowed at the waist. "Kurosaki-taichou, Kuchiki-fukutaichou," she greeted. Even before they could greet her back she fired off, "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions without sounding insolent or nosy." Hoshi blushed lightly. Curse her stubbornness not to back down... this was almost as reckless as something her older sister would do.

The captain and vice captain looked like they were about to start laughing at her, but nodded anyways. Raising herself from the bow, Hoshi stood up as straight as possible and kept a blank expression. In her subconscious she sucked in a deep breath.

"Is it true that you're pregnant, Kuchiki-fukutaichou? Or that you spent the night with your vice captain two nights ago, Kurosaki-taichou?" Her words came out all in a rushed, nearly jumbled mess.

Hoshi flinched, expecting a scolding or possible demotion for her words. Instead her superiors looked mildly interested!

"When would I have gotten her pregnant...?" Taichou murmured to himself.

Rukia hit her fist into her palm lightly. "You know, it could have been two weeks ago!" She turned to the man beside her. "That would be the most logical, considering that night..." she trailed off and the other girls deadpanned before they could completely register her words. About half the girls seemed to turn and walk away in a daze – which went unnoticed by Ichigo and Rukia who were, by now, in a deep conversation about a specific night.

People around them couldn't believe their ears as the two, who had a very closed relationship in front of other people, continued to talk rather loudly. Within a matter of minutes, all halls in the ninth devision were emptied out due to people flocking to gossip about the first-hand news.

When they were sure everyone was long gone Ichigo turned to look at Rukia with an uncharacteristically large grin. Rukia let a few giggles of her own bubble past her lips. "Remind me why we start these rumors again. People must think I'm a whore by now."

Ichigo slung his arm around her shoulders, seeming a bit awkward with the height difference (he seemed to have grown even more since he decided to become captain). "Ah, we both know why we do this. Otherwise, this place would be extremely dull without us."

Rukia's smirk grew more. "Amen to that."

---

**Word Count: 2556**

---

A/N: Wow, this was a long chapter! Sorry, I didn't get this beta-ed so excuse errors. Reason I didn't get it check is because I feel that you've all waited too long for this chapter and _I've_ waited too long to write it. To be honest, I think this was the most fun chapter to write yet. Who knew that people like Ichigo and Rukia would form rumors about themselves?! Haha! Anyways, feel free to not read the following fan girl rant...

Anyone play the Bleach: Shattered Blade game yet? I did, and it was fun! - First of all, my friends and I picked random characters to battle with (all the while praying not to get Ganju vs. Ganju, because he's the crappiest character) and we got ironic battles – Hinamori vs. Aizen, Ichigo vs. Rukia, Yachiru vs. Kenpachi. Once Amaya got Kira vs. Kira (Haha, the show emo kills himself!) There were two things I was saddened in though – one, you couldn't be Unohana. Sure, I don't know how you'd attack, but I'm sure they could figure out something. The second was that Ulquiorra is really, really slow... and speed is kind of essential in the game. Another thing... his voice is pretty awful. They didn't even add him in the cast list when _Hanatarou_ did! Made me very angry...

Hints for the game: When battling against a close range attack that may take a moment to use, use Aizen. He has this very, _very_ annoying attack where he uses his zanpakuto to disappear just before the attack and then attack you from behind. Also, Yachiru can use cheap moves were she'll attack you so you get knocked down, and attack you when you stand up only to knock you down again and again and again! That's basically the only way my sister (who was Hoshi in the story) beat Amaya or I.


	11. SPECIAL: Tangled

_On the first day of Christmas,_

_Hearii gave to me_

_Shinigami tangled in a tree_

**A/N: **That's right – I'm not going to go Scrooge on you all. I'm going base the next 12 chapter in Christmas spirit, giving you all one each day. They will take place when Ichigo is 16 to 20 years old because it will go like this:

**16 years old:** Christmas Eve

**16 years old:** Christmas

**16 years old:** The day after Christmas

**17 years old:** Christmas Eve

**17 years old: **Christmas

**17 years old:** The day after Christmas

etc.

etc.

By the way, for anyone who cares, I completed my AMV. Again, it's on Youtube under the user Hearii (creative user name, no?)

* * *

You'd have to give it to foreign exchange students – they did have their moments. Through the language barriers and odd foods they brought to school they sure had some fun stories. Karakura High School, taking in its fair share of people on exchange programs, was given a student by the name of Eve, a brown-haired girl from Australia who had lots of personality. When she came to the school she decided it would be fun to let everyone in on some of her culture, if they were willing. And, knowing Ochi-sensei, the class was more than eager to celebrate holidays in the classroom. Sure everyone had heard of Christmas but not everyone celebrated it. After just a small taste of the fun, though, students became attached to the spirit and joy of Christmas. Especially a certain shinigami... 

This, folks, is where my twelve holiday festivities begin...

---

**Eleventh Collected:**

**Tangled**

**(SPECIAL: The First Christmas Eve)**

---

Rukia sighed contently as she sprawled herself out on the Kurosaki household's couch, stretching her arms above her head and her legs far away from her body. A shiver was automatically sent down her spine, flushing her already-cold cheeks even more and pricking her numb toes. Rolling her head lazily to the side, she was greeted by the comfortable fabric of the couch's back and snuggled into it.

"Boy," she said to Ichigo, who was still in the opening hallway. "That was harder than I thought!" When she heard an irked growl she smirked into the couch and withheld an evil giggle rising in her throat.

"You stupid midget!" Ichigo grunted. "Get back in here and _help me_!" Rukia rose into a sitting position from the couch. She looked in the hallway only to see a full evergreen tree waddling towards her slowly, when in reality, it was just the orange-haired boy who couldn't seem to get a good grip on the trunk and was just trying to push the tree in awkwardly. She could see the bright yellow plastic bags he held as well, bulging with ornament bulbs and colourful tinsel. He did seem to have a lot of trouble juggling it all... but then again she was pretty tired.

"Nah," she waved off, laying back down. "You can handle it. Plus, I was the one who did the most work."

Ichigo could be heard sputtering from the hall as he slowly grew closer to the living room of the house. "You did the most work?!" He asked, disbelievingly. "I was the one who carried everything!"

" Yes, but," Rukia yawned. "Do you know how tiresome it is to find specific decorations that will match with everything I already picked out _and _the house? Searching for the perfect tree? It's not as easy as it looks."

She could hear Ichigo shifting tree-branches out of the way, the pine-needles brushing against each other and the wall. "If you don't get in here and help right now," Ichigo threatened darkly. "I'm going to shatter those stupid Chappy bulbs you got." He smirked when that got her attention.

"You wouldn't dare..." Rukia drawled, eyes narrowing. Ichigo loosened a finger on the yellow bag with said decorations and panic entered the shinigami's sapphire eyes. "You idiot! Don't drop them! I'll help, I'll help!" She screeched.

Ichigo smirked as she bolted up and took the bags from him, which he willingly handed over from behind the tree. "See? That wasn't so hard."

She gave him a death glare and started to stalk away. As she did so, the tip of her foot accidentally caught on the trunk of the evergreen tree and she found herself falling. From there, everything fell into place. Literally.

_Every action has a reaction! Every action has a reaction!_ Ichigo cursed in his head, panicking, as he found himself falling backwards after the tree was suddenly jerked by Rukia's foot. As if to try and re-balance it, he pushed his body forward and brought the tree with it. It would have worked... if he didn't push the tree too hard, like he did. So now, he found himself falling towards the ground, face first, exactly where Rukia lay after her face-plant.

_Oh crap, oh crap, **oh crap, ****oh crap,****ohcrap,****OHCRAP! THINK FAST!**_

Ichigo, eyes wide, spun around at the last second, his back to Rukia, tree above him. A millisecond later he fell to the ground in a big heap, a sickening crunch sounding underneath him.

He narrowly missed Rukia.

The Chappy Bulbs, on the other hand, were now just shards in his back.

Seconds ticked by. Rukia shifted from underneath the light branches of the tree to look at the expression on Ichigo's face nervously. She noticed how his right eye, actually the only eye she could see, twitched but other than that his expression remained blank. _Oh boy, this is bad..._ She thought as she saw him take in a large breath.

The loud curse that came from Ichigo's mouth that day seemed to resound in everyone in the neighborhood's head when they heard it; for at least a week.

* * *

**Word Count: 846**

* * *

A/N: The very last part, with Ichigo's loud curse, was inspired by The Simpsons, when Mr. Burns couldn't remember Homer's name. Ah, you gotta love that show... 

Not much IchiRuki in this chapter...but he cared enough not to let her get crushed by himself and the tree! Nothing says you care like 'I don't want you to be pancaked'!


	12. SPECIAL: Noise

_On the second day of Christmas,_

_Hearii gave to me_

_Two lousy whisperers_

_And a shinigami in a tree_

Day two. Ichigo, age sixteen, Christmas morning.

---

**Twelfth Collected:**

**Noise**

**(SPECIAL: The First Christmas)**

---

It was dark. Very dark.

Too dark for Ichigo to even want to be up on a Christmas Eve. Or was it morning by now?

Groaning, Ichigo flipped over and propped himself up on his forearm shakily. With his other hand he reached out to grab the top of his new alarm clock. Karin had decided he needed one, but Ichigo really thought she had gotten it for him so she wouldn't have to endure listening to their father attack him every morning to wake him.

Pulling the front of the clock towards him, the teen squinted at the glowing red numbers on the clock. Surely he couldn't be seeing them right. Rubbing the small amount of dust in his eyes Ichigo took a double-take. But, even so, the numbers still read the same thing.

4:39 AM

Cursing lightly, Ichigo flopped back down on his bed and rubbed his hands along his face. Why the hell had he woken up at this unnecessary hour? He hadn't done that lately, not in years, so why now? He thought back to anything that might have woken him – dream, noise, _something_.

He wasn't having a dream; just one of those quick, painless flashes of black from the time when you drift off to sleep to the time you wake up. Yep – just dark, tireless... and then he woke up.

But suddenly, as if it dawned on him at that moment, Ichigo remembered something. There was a loud clattering noise that had startled him awake! Yes, that was it! Just like his dream it was dark... but unlike the dream it wasn't noiseless.

Ugh – apparently all those years of being attacked by his old man had made him a light-sleeper.

Sitting up underneath the groaning bedsprings, Ichigo wondered what the hell that noise could have been. Then, he kicked himse lf for asking such as stupid question. There was only one thing that could be moving at such a ridiculous.

Rukia.

Irritated, the orange-haired boy sighed and rolled his head to his left shoulder lazily to look at nothing. Flinging his blanket off the lower half of his body, he got up and padded his way over to his sisters' room silently. As suspected, the door was open. Even more unsurprising, Rukia wasn't in her bed.

Growling quietly, Ichigo nearly stomped his way down the stairs. Figures the little midget wouldn't wait till **actual **Christmas morning to go check out all the gifts. He could understand that from a six year old. He could understand that for a ten year old. He could **not **understand that from someone older than him. She was much older than him in fact. And yet, he found himself acting more mature than her a lot of the time. Like when she looked like she was going to cry so she could get money for ice cream? Yes, such mature behavior for a _'respectable' _shinigami.

And more unsurprising than finding Yuzu and Karin's bedroom door open; more surprising than finding Rukia not sleeping in her bed, Ichigo found Rukia crawling under the tree to reach the last present at the very back so she could examine it. Sitting cross-legged on the carpet she poked at the small, soft package and flipped it around to look at who it was for. By the small smirk on her face, Ichigo could only assume it was for her.

Storming over to her, Ichigo ripped the package out of her grasp. It seemed to have startled her because she nearly fell over from her place on the carpet and onto her face. He quickly threw the package to the side and dove at the small woman to cover his hand over her mouth. Her loud protests of anger were successfully covered up.

"You better shut up," Ichigo snarled, nose to nose with the fuming girl, "because you've already woken me up at this ungodly hour and I don't want you waking up anyone else. What hell are you doing down here?"

Giving him a glare, Rukia bit the boy's fingers. Quickly withdrawing his hand so he could nurse it, Rukia backed herself away and leaned against the wall.

"I was curious, okay?" She whispered harshly. "I'm sorry. I've never done this before."

Not taking all-too kindly to her sarcasm, Ichigo basically threw his face back in hers. "And you think I have? You don't see _me _prowling under a tree to look at wrapping paper!" He nearly yelled.

"Will you shut up!" Rukia yelled back. "You're going to wake up your father and sisters!"

"Hey, you started it!"

"I did not! you were the one who stormed downstairs and started scolding me like a child!"

"Only because you're acting like a child!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"_Am not!_ "

"_Are too!_ "

Ichigo, who was towering over Rukia by now to try and look intimidating, nearly toppled over when the light overhead was flipped on. Looking over to the doorway, both teens (in appearance, at least) saw an annoyed looking Karin with bed-head. Letting out an agitated sigh, the girl closed her eyes and ran her hand over her face.

"What are you two doing?" She asked, not really caring but just wanting to go back to bed.

A small silence passed before Ichigo blurted out,

"She started it!"

So much for being the mature one, Ichigo.

Rukia gasped at him. "H-he was yelling at _me _to be quiet!" She countered.

"She _bit _me!"

"He--!"

"Whatever," Karin interrupted with a yawn. "Just go back to bed. You're _**so **_lucky dad and Yuzu didn't wake up." With that, the girl flicked off the light and retreated back up the stairs as silently as she came.

As soon as she was out of sight, Rukia turned to Ichigo. "This is entirely you're fault." She muttered darkly.

"Hah, yea right." Ichigo snorted back. "You're the one who was sneaking down here in the first place."

The two stood in the dark for a minute or two before Rukia spoke up again.

"So, I see you got me something." She smiled wickedly, holding up the package he had torn out of her hands.

Coughing to hide the small blush, Ichigo dodged her sly gaze. He had completely forgotten about that present... can't return it now, can he?

"Er... yea." He replied back lamely. "Isn't that the whole idea of giving gifts on Christmas?"

Rukia sighed dejectedly. "I suppose, I was just anticipating something more extravagant." Almost as if to make the gift look shameful, she held it up in the palm of her hand.

Ichigo gapped at her. "You ungrateful little brat. I bet you didn't even get me anything." He scoffed, crossing his arms.

Rukia sighed again. "Yes... not extravagant at all..."

"That's what I thought."

**Word Count: 1134**

**A/N: And there I was, just about to write this chapter when I remembered I promised you all an IchiRuki bicker-fest. Sorry about that. Here you go – this one's just about as childish as you can get. I liked the end though. Teehee... I managed to squeeze in a small bit of Ichigo's soft side with the whole gift thing.**


	13. SPECIAL: Demur

_On the third day of Christmas,_

_Hearii gave to me_

_an unintended promise,_

_two lousy whisperers_

_and a shinigami in a tree._

**A/N:** So sorry guys, about the (possible) grammar and spelling errors in this chapter and the last. I keep writing these chapters last minute so I can't send it to _dinem_. I really don't want to send it to her last minute either, because... well, that's just unfair to her.

I also notice the lack of reviews for the previous chapter kind of baffle me. I mean, normally you guys are very supportive and at least give a positive few words. I dunno, just makes me think.

---

**Thirteenth Collected:**

**Demur**

**(SPECIAL: The First Boxing Day)**

---

Rukia held her head up high, despite her low spirits. She would not pout... she would not pout... she was a Kuchiki, damn it! If she got so upset over a trivial matter like this she would be disgracing Nii-sama – and she had done enough of that already!

But... but maybe the matter wasn't so trivial. This was big for her; as she watched as everything was packed up and put away she felt her Christmas spirit get put in bubble-wrap and placed in the box as well. Bye-bye, colourful tinsel and ornaments. Bye-bye, lights and tree. Bye-bye, holiday joy.

Rukia felt her bottom lip unintentionally stick out.

"Aw, don't be a baby." Ichigo scolded as she watched her cross her arms defiantly and drum her fingers. "You're acting like a little kid."

"You know, you've been telling me that for the past few days," Rukia hissed venomously. "I think I'm used to it by now."

"Good," Ichigo replied off-handedly, continuing to pack away Rukia's happiness. "Because unless you cut it out, I'm going to keep pointing it out. Pass me that red bow, will you?"

Rukia slowly uncrossed her arms from her chest and reached for the last ribbon on the living room table. Ichigo watched as she picked it up delicately, as if it were her own child, and unwillingly handed it to him.

"How can you just pack it all away and not think it's sad? Are you heartless or something?" Rukia muttered.

Ichigo stood up tall and arched his back with a hiss. God, his back hurt like hell – how was he to be sure Rukia had gotten all the glass fragments from the 'Tree Incident' (as he liked to call it) out of his skin? He had crushed her Chappy bulbs, so how was he to be sure she didn't hold a grudge and decide to have a little fun with his pain? She could be such a pain herself sometimes...

"How do I just pack it all away, huh?" He repeated as he reached for the scissors, tape and a black permanent marker on the coffee table. "Easy." He started to demonstrate.

"First," He gestured to the cardboard box laying in the middle of the room, filled with sparkling decorations. "You take the ornaments off the tree and place them in a box." Ichigo folded the box up and cut off a long strip of tape from the roll. "Next, you put tape over the box opening," he followed his own instructions and picked up the box with ease. "and finally, you put the box in storage." He walked away from Rukia, but sadly, she followed him.

Both scowling, they started up the stairs, Rukia just a step behind Ichigo.

"You can't tell me that you don't miss it though! You know, the spirit, cookies, Christmas specials, feasts, gifts..." she trailed off with a sigh, going into fantasy mode. After a moment, she snapped back to reality. "But now, after one day, everything changes and we're getting rid of it all! It's not fair!"

"Speaking of cookies," Ichigo ignored her protests of justice. "You are not to go overboard ever again. You're such a hyper-active pain after you've had one-too-many and that will **not**, I repeat, **not** happen again next Christmas."

Dusting off his hands, Ichigo closed the small storage room's door. When he turned around to head back downstairs Rukia was blocking his way, standing still with a glazed look in her eyes. Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows and waved his hand in front of her face.

"Rukia?" He asked with little to no concern in his voice. "Rukia, come on. Move or do something, midget."

She snapped out of her daydream to glare, but it passed after a moment and faded into a look of curiosity. She tilted her head to the side.

"Next... Christmas?"

Ichigo did not like that one bit. He felt a deep feeling of regret build up along his stomach walls, and he mentally kicked himself. Oh, fantastic. Now he was going to have to deal with a hyped-up Rukia. Again.

"Next Christmas?! That's right!" Rukia snapped her fingers as if she was the one to figure it out all herself. "There's going to be one again! And again, and again, and again!" Smirking, Rukia headed back down the stairs with a bounce in her step. Ichigo found himself rolling his eyes when he heard her muttering things about what gifts to get for what people, new food concoctions she'd have to try out and what day she'd have to get all their friends together to celebrate.

"Oh!" She exclaimed, suddenly turning around halfway down the stairs nearly sending Ichigo toppling over her. Unaffected, she pointed at Ichigo in a thinking way. "Remind me tomorrow to invite Inoue over so we can start planning for next year."

Wasn't that a bit overboard?

Wait, never mind. No matter what he said, it would never get through to Rukia. Girl was stubborn as an ox, with the thick-skull of one too.

She turned back around and took a few steps before she slowly came to another stop. What girl, you can't get through a simple flight of stairs by yourself? She turned her head over her shoulder to look at the orange haired boy again, this time with a happy grin on her face. "Oh, and Ichigo? ...thanks."

A few seconds ticked by.

Okay? Now that was a bit awkward to say the least... what did he do? Shifting from foot to foot, Ichigo stared at the railing. "Uh... no problem?" It was more of a question than an answer.

Looking up to see her reaction to the equally awkward reply, he saw nothing. Yea, nothing. She was gone.

Probably to plan the party a year in advance.

Passing a hand over his face Ichigo sighed pathetically. Stupid girl...

He was beginning to learn how a confusing Rukia could be just as painful as a violent Rukia.

Also, he was about to learn that her and excitement could be just as annoying as her and cookies. But regardless, he found himself relieved in the fact that the normally serious Shinigami could let loose and be happy in the presence of a Christmas spirit.

And somehow, that made him happy too. He shrugged it off.

The things the Christmas spirit can do to you, huh Ichigo?

* * *

**Word Count: 1075**

* * *

**A/N:** At first, I found myself wanting a humorous piece but that quickly changed near the end when I decided to end it on a fluffy note. It actually really satisfied me. I don't know about you guys but I found it very enjoyable to think about a Christmas-high Rukia. 


	14. SPECIAL: Obsession

_On the fourth day of Christmas,_

_Hearii gave to me_

_an annoyed babysitter,_

_an unintended promise,_

_two lousy whisperers_

_and a shinigami in a tree._

---

**Fourteenth Collected:**

**Obsession**

**(SPECIAL: The Second Christmas Eve)**

---

Ichigo knew Rukia had problems – odd ones at that. Maybe it was multiple personality disorder (like he was one to talk, huh?), or maybe she just liked toying with his opinion of her. Either way, Ichigo knew the three ways she behaved around different groups of people.

Around people she knew on a business matter she was cold and serious. In those moments he could see her stupid inner Kuchiki that must have worn onto her because of her brother. This, in itself, pissed him off to no end since it was bad enough to even _know_ Byakuya Kuchiki. (Honestly, how people saw him was ridiculous – girls fawned over his girlish looks, people seemed to praise the ground he walked on and everyone, except him, respected the 'man'. Even Renji for God's sake! But not him; _no way_. He was not about to worship a guy that wore a scarf and hair curlers - he didn't care how _noble_ and _expensive_ they were - everywhere he went and had a sword **made out of sakura petals.**)

To people she didn't know in the human world she was polite, innocent and naïve 'Rukia-chan'. She curtsied and smiled brightly and giggled. _Freakin' giggled! _What's worse was that she could keep up the stupid facade while discreetly beating the crap out of him. Ichigo rubbed the spot where she had 'accidentally slipped with the dictionary in her hand, so she could finish her literature work, and it landed on Kurosaki-kun's head!' Damn lies, they were! And people actually bought them!

Then, there was the way she acted towards him, which could be a category of its own. She would steal his manga, sleep in his closet, wake him up in the middle of the night, dig through his belongings, run to the bathroom first thing in the morning and use all the hot water, eat all his food, take all his money to buy stupid merchandise, shove disgusting foods down his throat, try and make him swallow the Chappy Gikongan, act superior to him in every way possible and much, much more that he didn't even want to go into detail with. And what was he to do?

Not a damned thing.

So when Ichigo walked into the house on Christmas Eve after shoveling the driveway due to the unexpected storm raging outside and saw Rukia helping herself to handfuls of Yuzu's home-made cookies, the boy found himself at a loss. She shoveled sugar cookie after sugar cookie into her mouth, taking little sips of milk in between, and Ichigo just couldn't find the heart to take away the treats from the girl.

Okay, that was a total lie. He would have done it but by the time he actually realized what she was doing she was licking her fingers.

Ichigo's head made contact with the wall. Damn. If only he was a few minutes earlier he could have stopped her.

"Ichigo..." Rukia whined from her chair. "Are there any more cookies left?"

Said boy's head snapped up from it's place on the wall. Giving her a dark glare, he started towards her slowly. "More cookies?" He asked, baffled. "You expect there to be more cookies after you ate about three batches alone? By yourself? Do you have any idea how hyped up you're going to get? Are you diabetic or something?!" With each question the boy's voice rose, almost in a shrill manner, as he grabbed and pulled at his hair. Just thinking of Rukia with who-knows-how-much sugar in her body right now made Ichigo want to go out and fight _Kenpachi_. Yea, that's how bad it was when she was running on sugar alone.

Rukia didn't flinch under his dark eye, but snapped her fingers. "Yea!" She exclaimed, like she had been ripped off of something. "There should be enough ingredients to make at _least_ another two batches! You're right Ichigo." The girl jumped out of her seat and opened the cupboard. Ichigo gapped at her like a fish when she stood – granted, on her tip-toes – to reach for the cookbook and a bag of flour.

"You know," Rukia grunted as she stretch a bit more to grab onto the edge of the sack of flour. "Yuzu just recently taught me how to make cookies my own" - Remind him to have a word with Yuzu later - "and I think they are just delicious."

Ichigo snapped. Rushing over to her, her reached over her arm to try and stop her from pulling down the bag of flour. Why did she have to get so... excited, for lack of a better word, around this time? She did this last year and you'd think the hype would not have been as bad as before, right? Wrong. She had been babbling about Christmas since the beginning of November and it had driven him to his last nerve. This was the last straw, too. She was not making those cookies, even if he had to dump the rest of the flour out onto the floor.

Of course, God thought he had meant that literally.

When Ichigo stopped her from grabbing the flour, he didn't stop it from coming down off the shelf. Almost as if in slow motion, both of them looked up to see the bag teetering on the edge of the cupboard. Panicking, Ichigo's eyes widened and he waved his hands up in the air to stop it. Beside him, Rukia deadpanned, arms limp at her side. They both watched dejectedly as the flour came tumbling down on them.

White powder rained over both of them, throwing dust into the air and Ichigo found himself go into a sneezing fit. Rukia watched, standing in front of him, as he threw more powder into the air. Ichigo looked hilarious – white, head to toe, with more flour pooled at his feet. But, she reasoned, she probably didn't look too much better. She picked at a lock of her own hair which was a grayish colour by now. And when she looked at Ichigo's, she noticed that it still remained the same ridiculous colour even through the flour. She had to laugh.

She was aware that Ichigo was staring at her like she was some sort of idiot, doubling over with laughter.

"Y-you're so s-stupid!" She wheezed through breaths. "You p-pulled the bag down on us, b-baka!"

Ichigo stared blankly at her. What the hell? Was this even Rukia? The one who was related to one of the most emotionless guys in the whole world (dead or living, it didn't matter to him) Byakuya? She was nearly on the ground with side-splitting laughter right now, covered in white flour. Her laugh, ringing through the silents of the house, resound off every wall and back to him where they both stood in a mess that should be being cleaned up. But instead, like it was contagious, Ichigo found a bit of laughter bursting through his own lips.

When Yuzu, Karin and Isshin arrived home nearly two minutes later, all juggling grocery bags in their arms, they surveyed the scene with different opinions.

Isshin, who had a maniacal grin on his own face, decided it would be best to go run and get a camera to take pictures so he could send it to people.

Karin, the only logical one, decided it would be the best idea to go get the broom and dustpan for the pair laughing like there was no tomorrow.

And Yuzu, although very confused, was very relieved that she decided to get an extra bag of flour while they were out.

* * *

**Word Count: 1276**

* * *

**A/N:** I'm still very shocked at the lack of reviewers. Thanks to all that do, but for those of you who don't I'm warning you. I will get Kenpachi in here if I have to! Come on; spread some holiday cheer and click the review button down below this note. You have to admit, I am sticking to my 'one chapter a day' promise, so I think I deserve it... 


	15. SPECIAL: Chaperon

_On the fifth day of Christmas,_

_Hearii gave to me_

_smashed part-ie-rs!_

_an annoyed babysitter,_

_an unintended promise,_

_two lousy whisperers_

_and a shinigami in a tree._

---

**Fifteenth Collected:**

**Chaperon**

**(SPECIAL: The Second Christmas)**

---

Ichigo knew. He knew dammit! He knew that as soon as Rukia had asked Isshin to have this unsupervised 'Christmas Bash' that something was going to go horribly, horribly wrong.

And to prove he knew, when she had asked for permission, Ichigo stood behind her and brought his fingers across his neck, clearly signaling to his father that 'No, he shouldn't say yes and actually be a responsible adult for once.' _But_, no. Isshin looked right at him, gave Rukia the thumbs up and started rambling on possible places he could stay on Christmas with the twins when the party took place. Yes, that's right. No questions on who would be coming, or what they would do, or lectures on behavior. But before he left, he did give Ichigo a meaningful few sentences on not mistreating the beautiful women that would be coming to the party.

_A yes, I knew,_ Ichigo thought as he watched a vase fly past his face. Funny, because they didn't have any vases in the house at all..._ I knew one thing would lead to another and someone would bring some drinks. _Ichigo watched as several girls he didn't recognize got up onto the table and started to yell at everyone, demanding their attention. Ichigo leaned against the wall and rolled his eyes. If they broke that table it would be up to Rukia to explain it to his father.

A few attempts later, the teenage girls on the got the volume in the room down. A girl with short, brunette hair stepped forward and started talking to the crowd.

" Now," she started, staring into the crowd of other drunken teens as she wobbled a bit. "I think we should all give a round of applause to the girl who invited us here, Kuchiki-san!" The crowd broke out into a roar of applause and cat-calls, gracious to their host for letting them come to _his_ house for some illegal drinking.

Ichigo watched in surprise as Inoue-san, an intoxicated Inoue-san to be specific, jumped onto the table with possibly the widest smile he had ever seen. "Yea!" She shouted happily, a bit of a slur in her tone, and pumped a fist in the air. "Yea, Rukia-chan, you come up here!" Ichigo gapped. Somehow, he didn't even think of what Rukia had been doing throughout this entire event! How did he not...? Oh god, no...

Ichigo watched with horror as the group of people lifted the smaller girl onto the table. Apparently, throughout the event of the party, here skirt had been rolled up so it was at an unhealthy length and her shirt had changed into nothing but a black tank top. Eyes wide, Ichigo started to furiously push through the crowd, determined to save the stupid shinigami from making a total idiot of herself in her current state. Imagine what she could say to people by accident – that she was already dead, but this party made her feel alive? Or she could come out entirely and just tell everyone she was a shinigami? And these weren't even the worst-case scenarios playing in his head...

Pushing through the sea of people, Ichigo ignored the curses coming from his own mouth and the party-goers he was shoving out of the way. Reaching the table, Ichigo took hold of the girl's waist and pulled Rukia down from the table just in time to stop her from speaking out. He felt the girl fall hard into his shoulder, but sprang back up quickly.

"Hey!" She asked Ichigo with a dark glare. "What was that for?!" She tried to pull away but Ichigo held onto her arm tightly and started to drag her the other way, unsuccessfully.

"Come on; you're gonna do something you'd regret in the morning. You're going to have such a hang-over..." he muttered just loud enough for himself to hear.

"Hey, Kurosaki-kun!" He heard someone call from above. He looked up to see Orihime leaning over (rather indecently, actually), holding a green clump of... something in her hand. She giggled loudly. "You're under mistletoe with Rukia-chan!" Thank god no one else in the room was sober enough to notice. Ichigo scowled, and Rukia continued to struggle against his grip, unaware of everything.

"What the heck is the supposed to mean?" She asked with a groan of struggling. Okay... maybe she wasn't_ completely_ unaware...

Ichigo started to tug her away a bit harder. It would be a disaster for 'Rukia-chan' to figure out what it meant - plus, a kick in the shin or two as well. It was too bad Inoue spilled, still giggling.

"When two people are under mistletoe together they have to kiss!" She sang, gleefully. Ichigo growled and Rukia stopped struggling, looking a bit perplexed.

She shrugged. "Okay." Ichigo's eyes widened to an unnatural amount when Rukia nearly pounced on him, pressing her lips to his. When she finally let go, Ichigo just stood, shocked, and took a minute to get a hold of himself.

Did Rukia just kiss him?

_Yes, _his mind told him slowly, lagging. _Yes, she did..._

Ichigo closed his eyes and shook his head. Inoue seemed to be gone by now - doing who knows what - so Ichigo began to drag Rukia upstairs with the intent of putting her to bed and throwing everyone out onto the street. But, when Rukia finally stopped resisting and just let Ichigo drag her up the stairs by her wrist, Ichigo realized how quiet it was in the upstairs... and how much privacy there seemed to be... and how his bed looked slightly bigger somehow...

...and how he was going totally insane!

"You're drunk." Ichigo muttered to himself, referring to Rukia, but talking to himself. "I'm going to put you to bed, kick everyone out, and nothing more."

Rukia heard every word he just said and let an unknown smirk slither onto her face.

Whenever did she say she was drunk, by chance?

Word Count: 1000

**A/N:** Ah, Rukia, you sly little thing! You can even use the excuse in the morning you didn't remember anything too!

I'm sorry; again! I know I promised to have two chapters, plus Arrancar Christmas out, but my relatives decided to come for an unknown visit. My uncle's girlfriend has a son that keeps looking over my shoulder and is ten, so it was hell even trying to get this out. I had to choke him to get him to leave for 10 minutes, so please, bare with me and realize that -sigh- I'm going through pain too.


	16. SPECIAL: Stunned

_On the sixth day of Christmas,_

_Hearii gave to me_

_changed circumstances,_

_anxious waitings,_

_horrid following days,_

_**smashed part-ie-rs!**_

_an annoyed babysitter,_

_an unintended promise,_

_two lousy whisperers_

_and a shinigami in a tree._

**A/N:** I combined three days to make up for lost time. Aka, I got lazy.

**Warning:** Do not eat the cheese in the chapter, for you'll be electricuted.

---

**Sixteenth Collected:**

**Stunned**

**(SPECIAL: The Second Boxing Day**

**The Third Christmas Eve**

**The Third Christmas)**

---

Huffing, Ichigo shook snow out of his orange hair as he walked into the house silently. After tossing the shovel into the closet, kicking snow off his boots and throwing them to the side, and shrugging off his coat Ichigo realized something awkward in the house.

He couldn't put his finger on it... his shoulders were tensed and he could feel the slight presents of a reiatsu except it was... compressed, it almost felt like. It wasn't Karin's or Rukia's either, because it felt as if someone had taken a pop bottle and shook it up, letting the gases inside press against the bottle. A huge reiatsu; except compacted.

Shrugging his shoulders around in circles to try and rid the aching in his bones (oh God, how he sounded like an old man) Ichigo warily made his way up the stairs and followed the odd spiritual pressure – straight to his room.

When he heard Rukia talking with another voice – muffled – that belonged to a man, the boy almost felt compelled to knock. He shook his head to get rid of those thoughts. _What?_ He thought to himself, ridiculously. _Knock to go into __**my own room**__? How stupid is __**that**_ Ichigo grabbed onto the doorknob and as soon as he did the two people in the room quieted. Narrowing his eyes, Ichigo pushed open the door but really wished he hadn't.

"What do you want?" He snarled at Byakuya and ignored the dirty look Rukia had sent his way. Rukia's older brother stood facing Ichigo, his back to Rukia who was sitting on Ichigo's bed with her hands in her lap. Ichigo saw her clench and unclench her tangled fingers several times before Byakuya responded.

" I do not have to answer to the likes of you, _kozo_." Byakuya scoffed in his 'better-than-thou' voice. "My business with my sister is none of your concern. I will demand you leave now."

Ichigo raised his eyebrows in the older man's direction and Rukia flinched at the move her brother made. "Uh-huh... Well, sorry, but this is my room and I'm allowed to be in here any damn time I want, invite in whoever I damn want. So now, I'm gonna have to 'demand' you leave now." Ichigo said with an almost disgusted look. Byakuya glared at him indifferently but stood still all the same. He made no move for the door but no move to protest he stay in.

A cold silence floated in through the air as both men stared at each other with glints of electricity passing for one to the other. The silence was only interrupted by the squeaking of Ichigo's single bed when Rukia shifted her weight nervously from on side to the other. Finally, Byakuya spoke.

"I suppose," he stated darkly. "that if you are so intent on staying here you may, even though this shouldn't be a concern of yours."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes suspiciously and Byakuya closed his to hide their rolling. "Yamamoto-soutaichou," he spoke. "inquires why Rukia has overstayed her visit in the human realm once again." Byakuya let the slightest bit of disgust enter his voice, as if remembering the last time it had happened and he was forced to come and retriever her for her execution. "He also orders that she is to come back at the immediate time so--"

"No." Ichigo felt his mouth automatically say without thinking. "I don't care. No; Rukia has stayed here who-knows-how long and was stationed in Karakura for patrol. There's no reason why she should go back to the Seireitei." He finished bluntly.

"Don't run you're mouth off without thinking, brat." Byakuya spat dully. "Are you to say that you are willing to defy the soutaichou's orders for something so insignificant?" Ichigo felt his mouth snap shut at the question. He may be rash to battle, but he certainly wasn't ready to rush himself to his grave.

"That's what I thought." Byakuya sniffed before turning back to his sister who was still waiting on the bed nervously. "Kuchiki Rukia," - did he really have to be so formal? - "by orders of head captain Yamamoto himself you are to return to the Soul Society at the immediate hour for your excessive stay in the human world. You are not to return, under any circumstance, for a total of ten year to make up for your overstay and acts as punishment as well." His voice held no compassion at all. Rukia felt herself flinch under his icy gaze.

"Hai... Byakuya... Nii-sama..." Rukia whispered in response.

Ichigo felt his blood boil. Oh, so she could wish for stupid rabbit merchandise but wouldn't even think to stand against for something she obviously didn't want? She would be forceful under _his_ glare but submissive when he brother _stared_ at her? She would fight him for the remote... but wouldn't fight for herself? Ichigo mentally kicked himself and felt something knot up in the pit of his stomach.

And it's not like he could do anything better.

* * *

**A/N:** Didn't really like this one all too much. I couldn't figure out a good way to begin it.

* * *

Ichigo felt his tired head plop down on the kitchen table and listened to the pounding in his head with his eyes squeezed closed tightly. He ignored all the buzzing down on the city streets below as people laughed in the snow, or cars roared, or stores blared announcements about last minute sales. The nineteen year old focused on nothing but the pounding in his ears as it grew louder and louder till he could hear nothing else. The dull surrounding was dark – having not turned on any lights in his single bedroom apartment. The white walls held only a singled shelf above the small television, where framed pictures of friends and family. None of them were of Rukia, as he had put them up specifically to remind himself that she was still going to be gone for a long time and he should just forget about her for the next nine years of her punishment. It wasn't a success – he couldn't control the thoughts in his mind. The only good she did now was soothing the headache he had now until the thumping in his head was gone and he could hear all the noise on the streets below. 

Sighing pathetically, Ichigo looked through bleary vision at the small, colourful tree that brought a small amount of light into the room. He didn't even mean to buy it or decorate it – for some reason his mind had nagged him about it till he did though. It seemed unrealistic, but one rectangular present sat alone under the tree.

God, she was right; he was such an idiot.

Ichigo lifted his head up from the dark table and planted his face in his hands, elbows supported by nothing. He gripped at his hairline harshly and felt a small stab in his stomach. He curled over and stared at the drab carpeted floor with tired eyes. He hated this time of year – he knew he would. All his thoughts were jumbled and so far it was the worst part of the full year he had lived day-by-day since she had left.

It wasn't too bad at first – he would go to bed at night, sleeping in the small, single bed and wake up in the morning to the beeping of his alarm. That was the easiest part of the day, or rather night, where he would pretend she was still here and go to sleep. But then, in the morning, he'd walk past Yuzu and Karin's room and see the empty spot where her bed used to be. Sometimes, he would even bring a plate of food upstairs and knock on the closet door; then he'd remember.

The first few times he did that it would be just like a small reminder. _Oh yea, she wasn't here. No big deal. _But days faded into weeks and he felt a small tug on his stomach that grew and grew till he couldn't even stand to look at his house. When he told his dad he was moving out, he knew he wasn't going to change his mind. So he left.

His new apartment wasn't bad. There he didn't have to live day-by-day and most of the time his thoughts were on school or work.

Now was a different story.

Standing up, Ichigo knocked over his chair and decided it was best if he just went to bed right now. He slammed the door to his room on the way.

Under the tree, the little note on the gift shook with the force of the slamming door. The folded paper trembled open slightly. It read,

_To Rukia,_

_From Ichigo_

The word 'from', though, was distorted; as if he had meant to write something else.

* * *

**A/N: **I think I might gag from the cheese-overdose, courtesy of the last bit.

* * *

When Ichigo dreamed of her coming back, it was always in the same way. She would break down his door, cross her arms and tell him to shut up and stop whining; basically the way she always forced herself back into his life. And he, for the life of him, just gapped like a complete moron. 

Nothing in dreams was ever supposed to come true; if it did, every little girl would have a pony and Transformer-like creatures would wander around the metropolitan downtown area aimlessly. So why, when he woke up, was Rukia Kuchiki yelling at him?

Ichigo snapped his head up, but immediately fell back down onto his pillow with a groan. _Damn head rushes!_

Not paying attention, he almost failed to notice when Rukia climbed onto the bed, straddled him and grabbed the front of his shirt that he didn't change out of yesterday.

"Baka!" She screeched at him. "Do you know how long it took me to get out of the Soul Society?!" She shook him back and forth. "And when I finally get to your family's house, you know what I find out?! You're not even there! God damn, you're such a moron!"

For the life of him, Ichigo gapped _like_ a moron. Just like his dream.

Finally gathering a hold of his thoughts (and tearing Rukia's hands away from his shirt before she could choke him to death), Ichigo sat up causing Rukia to fall onto his legs lightly. For a moment, he stared at her disbelievingly while she (or rather her gigai) fumed.

" What," he started, catching hold of his tongue. "What in the world are you _doing_ here?" He watched her as she crossed her arms and basically sat in his lap, pouting like a child.

"Ukitake-taichou," she said, leaning back a bit. "he convinced Yamamoto-soutaichou to let me come to the human world..." The way she said it – it seemed like there was much more than what she let on.

"And what," Ichigo scowled. "is the catch in this deal?" Rukia rolled her eyes and crawled off him. She stood (in her school uniform, he just noticed) about a foot away from the bed.

"I can't return." she said bluntly, as if she was talking about what she wanted to eat.

Ichigo sat in his bed like a deer caught in headlights. A lump stuck in his throat and he desperately tried to talk around it. "C-can't..." he wheezed pathetically. "go back?"

Rukia shuffled her foot around on the carpet and rolled her eyes again. "It's what I just said, isn't it?"

Ichigo didn't know what to say. Thoughts swirled around and he felt guilty. Falling back onto the pillow, Ichigo looked over at Rukia who was now inspecting the lack of cleanliness in his room with a grimace.

"Baka," Ichigo blurted out. Throwing himself out of bed, he walked over to her (now startled), and grabbed onto her shoulders. Bringing himself down to eye-level he asked: "Why? Why in the world would you leave the Soul Society? Doesn't that mean you have to give up your duties as a Shinigami?"

Rukia blinked her dark blue eyes. "No... I don't have to give them up entirely. Besides," She shook off his hands. "It's not like I would really have to give up anything. Byakuya-Nii-Sama and Renji said they would come visit every now and then. The only thing I would have to do," she joked. "would be to get a functional gigai from Urahara and learn how to live a human life and maintain my duties."

"And where did you plan on staying?"

"Well," Rukia drawled. "I was actually hoping..."

Ichigo deadpanned. "No."

Rukia looked at him horrified. "What? So you'll get me a present you didn't expect me to even come to get, but you won't let me live with you?"

"You know," Ichigo scowled. "That doesn't mean anything. And it figures you'd snoop under the tree before screaming at me to wake up."

"It's not like there was much to see!" Rukia said hotly. "Obviously you can't do anything right without me."

The nineteen year old growled. "Considering your standing in a rent-out apartment that I pay for myself while going to school and work – successfully – I'd say I you're wrong."

"Yea, yea. Whatever you say, Strawberry." she waved off and Ichigo glared at her. "Now, are you gonna let me open that present or what?" Not waiting around for an answer, Rukia ran into the living room. Ichigo sighed.

He brought a his palm to his forehead. Suddenly, just after her appearance, the last nearly a year felt like a blur; just another thing of the past that didn't matter. He could live with that.

It felt as if his life had returned almost.

* * *

**Word Count: 2268**

* * *

**A/N:** Wow, I can't believe I didn't die on you guys. I also can't believe why I didn't die for cheese OD. I hope you guys are fine with a 'fairytale'. Fairytale, because it starts off with a conflict between two people for no apparent reason, then the main character goes through a little self-conflict, but in the end everything mashes together happily and we never speak of it again. _Ever_. That's why they say 'Happily Ever After', to keep you from wondering where the hell the characters go from there. Yea, if you can't tell, I didn't like this chapter at all. I was very tempted to tear it down and throw the idea away but I'm too damn stubborn. 

Click.

Review.

Button.

For.

Hearii's

Sanity.


	17. SPECIAL: Sick

_On the ninth day of Christmas,_

_Hearii gave to me_

_too much candy,_

_changed circumstances,_

_anxious waitings,_

_horrid following days,_

_**smashed part-ie-rs!**_

_an annoyed babysitter,_

_an unintended promise,_

_two lousy whisperers_

_and a shinigami in a tree._

**A/N:** The Nintendo Wii is very addicting, no?

**---**

**Seventeenth Collected:**

**Sick**

**(SPEACIAL: The Third Boxing Day)**

---

Rukia tossed and turned in Ichigo's small bed, feeling an awkward and uncomfortable churning in the pit of her stomach. She pressed her forehead against the semi-cool wall to try and beat out the hot, stickiness on her face, but she soon had to ditch the plan when she felt saliva gather in her mouth.

Bolting out of bed, she ran to the bathroom (which was, thank god, not more than five feet away from Ichigo's bedroom) and slammed the door shut behind her. Her stomach jumped to the center of her throat and she felt herself heave whatever was in her system at the time – which she really didn't want to think about - out. Several minutes past as she hovered over the toilet, just to make sure that she was good to leave the bathroom without having to run back in twenty seconds later.

Outside the doorway, she heard Ichigo's muffled voice. "I told you, didn't I?" she could hear the scowl in his voice. "You shouldn't have eaten all that chocolate and candy."

Groaning, Rukia opened the door to come face to chest with the orange haired nineteen year old (who was, as predicted, scowling down at her). "No, you didn't!" She whined uncharacteristically, clutching her stomach. Apparently sickness had affected not only her eating pattern and flushed her skin, but changed her attitude.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Ichigo sneered. "I told you so many times yesterday that you must have just completely drowned out my warnings. And look where we are; you, sick, running to the toilet every five minutes."

Speaking of which...

Rukia covered a hand over her mouth and wordlessly ran back into the bathroom. Ichigo rolled his eyes from behind her and leaned against the door frame. "Ichigo," she wheezed. "go get me some more medicine."

"No."

"Why?! I'm sick!"

"Because you're only supposed to take it every four hours, at most, and it's been an hour and a half since you last took some."

"I can take it though."

"You know, that just makes you even more sick, stupid."

"What did you--?"

Rukia fell back over the toilet again. Ichigo felt himself wince the slightest bit. "Jeez, how much did you eat when I wasn't looking? You really should ease up on the junk food, even if it is 'in the Christmas season'."

Rukia glared over at the sink (not wanting to look down in the toilet in fear of exactly _what _she might see). "Thank you, Captain Obvious." She muttered under her breath quietly. Not so quietly that Ichigo didn't hear her, though.

"Well, if it's so 'obvious', why did you do it in the first place?" he glared.

Rukia quirked and eyebrow. Seriously? "Did you just ask a girl why she eats chocolate? Because if so, I might have to make you go on another shopping spree with me again – with you're money."

Ichigo narrowed his eyes. "Whatever," he murmured. "just if you do it again I'm going to hide the medicine and let you deal with it on your own."

"Shows how caring you are." she snapped back. "How about I just go over there and throw up on you and we'll see if you change your mind?"

"Do, and I'll make you do all the laundry for the next two months." Ichigo said seriously.

"Yea, right." Rukia scoffed, hands falling off the toilet bowl's rim. "And how will you do that?"

"Easy. My place, my rules." Ichigo crossed his arms, daring her to deny it.

"Yes," Rukia promptly replied. "But when I lived with you before, you still couldn't do a thing."

Ichigo snapped. "That's because my family was around. Here, I could do whatever the hell I wanted to you and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it."

Rukia stood up, feeling confident that her puking spell had left for the time being, and walked past the frustrated boy. "Sure." she said offhandedly. "Well, I'm going back to bed. Could you bring me a bucket? Running from your room to the bathroom every once and a while is awful."

She heard Ichigo grumbling about something before he started to go rummage around for something she could use. Rukia, on the other hand, snuggled back into the covers on the bed and let out a content sigh.

That boy was just too easy.

* * *

**Word Count: 702**

* * *

**A/N:** Ichigo is **so** whipped. Enough said.

I was overwhelmed today, when I log onto MSN and find an amazing number of review, story added and story favourited alerts. I think I nearly fell over from the amount of positive feedback I clearly didn't expect last chapter. I just want to thank you all so much – I have something to brag about to people who really don't care. To the Annoymobile! XD

Note: " _Here, I could do whatever the hell I wanted to you and you wouldn't be able to do anything about it._ " I don't know if I should have put that in... it might be just my mind in the gutter though. Oh well, the line was too temping. O.O


	18. SPECIAL: Payback

_On the tenth day of Christmas,_

_Hearii gave to me_

_food fights,_

_too much candy,_

_changed circumstances,_

_anxious waitings,_

_horrid following days,_

_**smashed part-ie-rs!**_

_an annoyed babysitter,_

_an unintended promise,_

_two lousy whisperers_

_and a shinigami in a tree._

---

**Eighteenth Collected:**

**Payback**

**(SPEACIAL: The Fourth Christmas Eve)**

---

Yuzu sighed, granted a bit dejectedly, as she placed the last plate of food that she had prepared on the table. The other three people at the table all looked as if they were about to jump and devour the food at any given signal, so the blond took this as a good sign. Regardless, Ichigo, Rukia and Karin all sat patiently in their seats as they waited for Isshin to come back from the clinic where he was treating a patient with a sprained wrist.

Taking her own seat at the table and tried to make small talk with someone. "So, Rukia-chan. How have you been? It seems like I haven't seen you and Ichigo in such a long time!"

"Uh..." Rukia fiddled with her hands. "You know, hollow's have been acting up recently."

Across the table, Ichigo muttered something under his breath while he propped his arm up on the table. Rukia's gaze snapped to him and she glared at him menacingly. "What was that?" she hissed venomously.

Karin looked back and forth between the two, hostility basically waving off them. The black-haired girl rolled her eyes. She had a feeling something was up between the two as soon as they walked through the door, like anyone was prepared to take out a shot-gun and blow the other's head off at a simple movement.

Ichigo leaned back in his chair and rocked on the back legs lazily. "Just said we normally wouldn't have a problem – you just suck and killing the damn things."

Rukia's eyes widened and she gapped at him. "I'm the one who has the problem taking care of him, Mr. Jumps-into-a-meno's-cero?"

"And what?" Ichigo snapped. "Let it destroy the preschool full of four year old?"

"It would have missed it by miles, but no! You have to go trying to be mindlessly heroic!"

"Oh yea? This _mindlessly hero_ here saved your ass on several occasions so I suggest you just shut up!"

"Oh, would you look at that!" Yuzu piped up with a squeak and stood from the table quickly. "I forgot the drinks! We can't have dinner without drinks!" And with that, the fifteen year-old rushed into the kitchen to avoid potential disaster.

Rukia grimaced. "What's your problem lately?!" she yelled at a scowling Ichigo. "You never seem to just let up!"

Ichigo stood up and loomed over Rukia even though they was a table in the way. "My problem? What the hell are **you** talking about? You're the one that never shuts up! '_Ichigo, I'm bored_', '_Ichigo, I'm hungry_', '_Ichigo, it's my turn to watch TV_', '_Ichigo, __**Ichigo,**__**Ichigo**_!'" The man mocked in an overly high pitch. He slapped his palms on the table for emphasis, making the glasses rattle.

Rukia just sent him a death glare, before she looked over her shoulder and called Yuzu out of the kitchen.

"Ah, Yuzu. You made everything, isn't that right?"

Karin leaned forward in her seat excitedly as Yuzu nodded her head quickly and nervously.

Rukia sighed. "It's such a shame that it's going to go to waste." She didn't sound sorry at all. Quickly, she gathered an handful of potatoes and flung in into Ichigo's face. Karin desperately tried to with-hold a laugh and Yuzu lightly gasped as they watched their older brother whip spuds away from his face. Underneath the white mush he might have been glaring, but you couldn't really tell.

"Yes," he hissed. "Such a shame." Retaliating, he picked up salad dressing and squeeze the contents on Rukia's head. Karin couldn't help it – she laughed. Rukia's expression was priceless even though she should have seen the move coming.

From there, it turned out into full out war. Unidentified liquids and mush were splattered on every wall in the dining room, food was thrown carelessly on the floor but all most all of the night's dinner was on the two people who had started it all – Ichigo and Rukia.

Both growled as they stood apart from each other (somehow standing away from the table by now), panting heavily. Karin stood up from her seat at the table, though amazed that nothing had come her way, and reached for the food to dial take-out. Yuzu didn't seem to upset that her hard work had gone to waste because she did get quite a show out of it, and handed her twin the phone book.

Ah well, hopefully the pizza place was opened on Christmas eve...

* * *

**Word Count: 752

* * *

****A/N:** Now that was so fun to write! I could so see it, clear in my mind. Isshin will be sad he missed it. 


	19. SPECIAL: Closet

_On the eleventh day of Christmas,_

_Hearii gave to me_

_malfunctioning friends,_

_too much candy,_

_changed circumstances,_

_anxious waitings,_

_horrid following days,_

_**smashed part-ie-rs!**_

_an annoyed babysitter,_

_an unintended promise,_

_two lousy whisperers_

_and a shinigami in a tree._

**A/N: **Does anyone else find it ridiculous that I have more Christmas specials than other chapters?

---

**Nineteenth Collect:**

**Closet**

**(SPECIAL: The Fourth Christmas Day)**

**---**

Ichigo rolled his head around on his shoulders lazily as he listened to the mindless chatter between the people invading his home and personal space. It seemed that again, just like when he was seventeen, not one of these people wanted to spend Christmas day with the one's they loved and cared about, but would rather drink and talk to people they weren't too close with. Was that what Christmas had become? A day to party? Wow, how the holiday season has fallen.

_We have Hallmark and liquor store hours to thank for that,_ Ichigo thought as he sat firmly against the couch determined not to leave his place._ At least this party is a thousand times more contained than the __other_ _one._

Yes, as sad as it is, Ichigo referred to the other party Rukia threw as the other one. You'd think he would have liked it, huh?

"Ichigo!" Said boy shuddered at the familiar, annoying voice that ran its way towards him. His eyebrow twitched once with annoyance. "What is it, Keigo?"

Keigo ran up to him, followed closely by Mizuiro, and patted Ichigo on the back. "Ichigo, this is a pretty good party! Isn't Kuchiki-san just radiant?" He sighed dreamily and looked over to the little terror, chatting it up with Orihime. "She's looking better than usual! Is it true she still lives with you?"

Ichigo rolled his eyes, hearing Keigo's perverted mind ticking behind its thick skull. "Yea." He admitted dully. "She's actually pretty annoying to have around most of the time, though, so I don't really know why I put up with it."

Mizuiro, who had remained silent while he clicked away at his cell phone like normal, looked up. "Eh? Isn't it because you love Kuchiki-san, Ichigo?"

Even being twenty, Ichigo acted as if he was still fifteen and his face went red. "What the hell gave you that idea, Mizuiro?!" he sputtered. _Seriously?!_

The guy across from him shrugged. "I don't really know," he admitted. "Everyone just assumed it."

Ichigo regained his composure (for the most part) and ran a hand through his messy, orange hair. "Everyone?" he asked with a sigh.

"Oh, yea!" Keigo piped up. "I don't think you even wanna hear the stories!"

So why did Ichigo have a feeling that after tonight he was not ever going to stop hearing them?

"Ichigo!" a voice through the crowd of people sipping wine and laughing called. Ichigo saw Rukia shove past a few people.

"Huh? What's up?" he asked curiously, to see from the look on her face that she didn't come over just to annoy him.

"There's a light bulb out in the washroom and I need you to go get a new one." she said lamely, rubbing her head.

Ichigo quirked an eyebrow. "And... why can't you?"

Rukia coughed slightly and shuffled her feet, looking at the ground with a look of defeat. "I, uh... the light bulbs on the top shelf of the closet and I can't exactly get to them." Ichigo choked on a laugh. She had basically just admitted that she was vertically challenged.

"Um, okay..." Ichigo drawled. He looked back at Mizuiro and Keigo and called out to them, "I'll be back in a minute, guys."

Rukia followed behind Ichigo, as they made their way to the closet in Ichigo's room where he put things like light bulbs and appliances like so. Opening the door, he made his way into the closet and grabbed a packet and handed them to Rukia. Just as he was about to get out of the closet, he felt Rukia ram into him clumsily and the door behind him slam shut, making everything dark.

Confused, Ichigo tried (and failed, due to lack of light) to see Rukia in the dark. "What the hell was that?"

Rukia, equally confused, tugged at the closet doorknob. "Someone just pushed me into the closet..." She tugged and pulled at the door but it wouldn't budge.

"Here," Ichigo sighed and pushed Rukia out of the way lightly. "Lemme try." Rukia glared through the darkness, but the effect wasn't nearly as good as it was in the light.

Ichigo, like Rukia, tugged and pulled at the door but nothing happened. Then, from outside, they heard a laugh. "Haha, keep trying, Ichigo!" Keigo called to them. "But you are not getting out until you make some of those stories between you two true!" Through the black, both people stuck in the closet looked at each other sceptically.

"What the hell, Keigo? Are you drunk or something?" Ichigo yelled back.

"Maybe," the other man drawled. "Maybe not. All I know, is I should probably go."

"No!" Both Rukia and Ichigo called. "Get back here!"

"I swear, when I get out, I'm gonna kill you!"

"_If_ ," came the muffled reply. "You mean,_ if_ you get out." They heard Keigo's laughter fade away as he left.

"No, wait!"

"Come on, it's not funny!"

"I'm going to make you go through hell if you don't get your ass back here right now."

"What's your problem?!"

Each shinigami took their turn banging on the door, but there was no other sound except the music and talking from the living room. Rukia sighed dejectedly, placed a hand on her forehead, and slid down the wall onto the carpet. "Well, this is great." she muttered sarcastically, while an enraged Ichigo tried to break down the door.

"That's it." Ichigo snarled, knowing the door wasn't budging. "I'm going to go all zanpakuto on Keigo's ass." He reached to grab the familiar badge on his belt – only to find it gone.

Cursing, he looked to Rukia. "You didn't bring your soul candy, did you?"

Rukia snorted. "No."

"Figures." Sighing, Ichigo slid down the wall, opposite of Rukia and propped his arms up on his knees. Silence took over before Ichigo let out a bitter laugh.

Rukia looked at him like he had gone insane. "What?"

"Just thinking about how your parties only make messes; you're two for two now." Rukia rolled her eyes in the darkness.

"Whatever. Merry Christmas to you too, dandelion."

"Stuff it, midget." he insulted. "You just couldn't be a foot taller, could you?"

"Yea, yea. 'Heard it before." Rukia said offhandedly. "Just shut up. God, it's cramped in here, isn't it?" She waved her hand around, trying to circulate air.

"Let's make a deal," Ichigo declared, deadpanning in Rukia's general direction. "When we get out of here, we castrate Keigo."

Rukia laughed. "Yea, tomorrow, when Inoue finds us sleeping an a closet."

"You should be used to sleeping in one of these. You sure did love my one at home..."

"Yea, but then you just had to go get a new one." Rukia threw her hands up in the air in mock-disbelief. Ichigo grinned.

"Yea, yea. My bad," he apologized jokingly, while musing over the fact that just yesterday they were flinging food at each other in declarations of war and now they were joking around about Ichigo's closet.

These two are quite a pair, aren't they?

* * *

**Word Count: 1178

* * *

**

**A/N:** Granted, this chapter should have come out an hour and a half ago, at the latest, but my days don't officially start till I wake up at eleven AM sharp. The Full Metal Alchemist movie, _Conqueror of Shambala_, held me back a bit as well as the anime marathons on YTV.

This chapter is dedicated to my friend, Rachel, for coming up with the idea. She absolutely insisted that the two should be locked in a closet, for some reason, but it did make for a good idea. Originally, she wanted them to get it on in the closet -sweat drop- I don't even know why – I don't even think she liked IchiRuki. Whatever. XD

Happy new year, everyone! Woopy, 2008 is here.


	20. SPECIAL: Skill

_On the twelfth day of Christmas,_

_Hearii gave to me_

_mocking presents,_

_malfunctioning friends,_

_too much candy,_

_changed circumstances,_

_anxious waitings,_

_horrid following days,_

_**smashed part-ie-rs!**_

_an annoyed babysitter,_

_an unintended promise,_

_two lousy whisperers_

_and a shinigami in a tree._

**A/N:** Oh God, YES! Last one! I think I hate Christmas by now.

**---**

**Twentieth Collected:**

**Skill**

**(SPECIAL: The Fourth Boxing Day)**

---

It turned out, that the wait in the closet had taken over most of the night so far. Ichigo checked his watch – his eyes having much time to adapt to the lack of lighting – and read that it was well over midnight. People outside grew wilder, louder and drunker by the passing hours and seemed not to notice the lack of the two hosts. Every now and then someone would turn up the volume on the stereo a notch or yell through the apartment making Ichigo sure that the landlord was going to come up and kick everyone out soon; if he wasn't already drunk at the party.

Ichigo banged his head off the back wall of the closet and groaned. "Are we ever going to get out of here?" he whined to Rukia, who glared at him with annoyance.

"You won't if you don't stop complaining." she snapped. "Try kicking down the door again."

Ichigo let out a defeated sigh. "Can't," he stated bluntly. "I think Keigo put my bed in front of the door."

Rukia cursed and smacked her fist to her palm. "Bastard." she snarled in a feral manner. Ichigo tried to back himself further into the wall.

"You know," he said after a minute. "I think I have your Christmas present in here actually."

Rukia pulled her hand away from her palm and looked at him with bright eyes. "Really?" she asked with as much excitement as, well, a little girl on Christmas. "Can I have it?"

Ichigo's eyes snapped wide, just remembering what he'd gotten Rukia for Christmas and realized he had just sent himself to his grave.

"Oh, crap." He muttered in a fake apologetic voice. "I actually put it in the kitchen cupboard! Sorry. Boy, it's crowded in here!" he laughed dully, only to have it die off when he saw Rukia's deadpanned expression.

"You're an awful liar." she stated. "Just give me it, before I have to search for it in here myself. I need something to do!" she wailed and stood up and started shifting boxes and clothes out of the way. Ichigo, on the other hand, had no intention of giving her the gift and sat in place. He prayed she wouldn't find it.

"A-hah!" Rukia yelled in victory, pulling a wrapped package out of a coat. She examined it excitedly, then looked over at Ichigo who visibly winced. _Please, oh dear god, get me out of here._

Oh, no way. You aren't getting out that easily, boy.

After tearing, shredding and crinkling was heard, Ichigo looked over at a serious-looking Rukia. He almost didn't dodge the unwrapped present flying towards his head as it was hurtled at him by a now furious-looking Rukia. Pleasant...

Rukia glared at him and implanted her foot in his leg. A sickening crunching could be heard from Ichigo's part of the closet and he grabbed at his leg with pain and howled out a few curses between glaring at Rukia.

"You got me a "How To Draw" book?!" she yelled angrily. "You're such an idiot! You just couldn't get me something normal, something that wouldn't mock me, could you?"

"Hey!" Ichigo hissed. "You didn't even get me anything, so I don't think I deserve a broken leg for getting you a gift that will help you learn how to actually do something right!"

Another foot connected with his other leg and Ichigo decided it would be wise to stand up. Raising a clenched fist in the air, the boy started viciously kicking at the door.

"I. Can't. Stand. Another. Minute. In. Here!" he snarled, kicking harder with each word. Rukia sulked from a back corner of the closet.

A crack was heard and both heads snapped to the small amount of light that flooded through the dank closet. Both clawed at the broken wood and before either one got a time to even say anything, they were out into fresher air. Both sucked in deep breaths and Ichigo dragged his bed back were it belonged.

The two stared at each other sternly and silently agreed the were now going to go kill Keigo, despite their disheveled clothes and tangled hair (more than usual for Ichigo) that would certainly cause rumors.

Oh well, they were sure everyone would believe them over someone as thick as Keigo.

* * *

**Word Count: 724

* * *

**

**A/N:** It didn't turn out as well as expected. Oh well, I'll make up for it in the next little thing I promised a few chapters back – an Arrancar Christmas! Wow. I can already feel the headaches.

**EXTRA:**

**Evil and Evergreen Trees Just Don't Mix**

_**ft. The Espada, Ichimaru Gin & Aizen Sousuke**_

Ichimaru Gin surveyed at the not-so-picturesque scene unfolding before his squinted eyes with the familiar light smile on his lips. Aizen was going to have a fit when he saw how riled up his Espada had gotten as they nearly destroying the main hall during many expected fights while trying to decorate. Gin couldn't even remember who had suggested the idea of celebrating Christmas in Hueco Mundo – the furthest place from a typical 'Winter Wonderland'. Tilting his head smoothly to the side to narrowly avoid a cero from blowing off his head, he found his memory being jogged. _'A course,_ he laughed in his head _'Is was 'll my 'dea._

Leaning against the dull, white walls, Ichimaru looked to see Grimmjow (the one who had initially fired a cero at his head) sonido around the room, trying to kill Ulquiorra for reasons unknown. No doubt because Ulquiorra had somehow put Grimmjow on edge and taunted him in that way of his. Odd fellow, the fourth Espada was. Then again, everyone here was.

As stated before, Grimmjow and Ulquiorra were in a game of 'Death Tag'; Stark was nearly sleeping in the gigantic evergreen tree in the corner of the hall; Szayel was attempting to mutate candy canes (into what, no one wanted to know); Yammy appeared to have no clue what to do so started throwing decorations everywhere; Zommari and the old guy – who's name no one ever seemed to remember for some reason – were no where to be found; Noitra seemed to be trying to blast holy into the walls.

The only sensible one appeared to be Halibel who calmly placed the last ornament – the star – on the top of the tree from her place on a latter.

Yammy stood up and groaned. "Don't we have weaker, pathetic arrancar to do this?" He boomed to no one in particular. Stark jolted awake and fell to the ground with a plop but other than that no one stopped what they were currently doing.

"'Wouldn't be talking, Yammy." Noitra laughed as he happily blasted more crushed holly into the wall. "You're the weakest of us here."

Halibel, now out of things to do, sat on the third step of the latter and glared at Noitra. "Do you have to do that? You're going to make this whole place collapse if you keep banging the holly into the wall."

Noitra looked over at her and smirked so widely that she knew he was going to say something perverted. "I could bang something else if you want,"

Halibel grimaced and rolled her eyes. Yep, there it was.

A loud crashing noise was heard across the room and Stark jolted to his feet once more, just in time to see Grimmjow smash into Yammy after a sonido, cause the huge Espada to tumble towards the tree. Everyone watched silently as the evergreen was knocked off balance and rolled quite a ways before slamming into the opposite side of the hall.

Sighing and closing her eyes, Halibel walked towards the tree. "Stark, Yammy," she glared at the latter. "Help set this back up."

Minus those three, everyone else stood around bored out of their minds trying to recall on why Aizen was making them do something as ridiculous as this – it was so... not Espada-esque.

Finally, the tree was back up and everyone watched as Stark plugged the lights back into the outlet. Nothing happened. Everyone simply stared at the tree dully.

"The lights aren't working." Ulquiorra pointed out.

Grimmjow, beside him, snarled, "Thanks for pointing that out, asshole." Ulquiorra just stared at him coldly before turning back to the tree.

"Which retard was sent to go get the lights?" Noitra snorted. "They don't even work!"

"Ah," Gin piped up. "Tha'd be To'sen." Gin rubbed a hand through his silver hair. "Per'aps I shoulda volu'teered ta do it, 'stead of lettin' th' blin' man."

Everyone deadpanned in their superiors direction (except Ulquiorra, who looked that way already).

"Well, we can't have a tree with no lights." Stark announced with a shrug. Somehow, he just knew these things.

Noitra grinned maniacally, an idea sparking in his eye (?). He raised his hand and suddenly fired a cero at the tree. Many of the Espada looked at him as if asking him if he was insane while the other half basically expected him to do something stupid.

Then everyone turned to stare at the Christmas tree, which was now blazing in flames. Noitra let out a chuckle and said, "You see? _Now_ it's lit."

* * *

**A/N:** Well, that was fun to write, even if it is so short. The idea of Espada and having Christmas appeals to me – (**SPOILER AHEAD**) I really should have written something where someone (probably Gin, of all people) gets Grimmjow yarn or catnip as a gift. 


	21. Ignorance

A/N: This is more for my birthday, which was on the fifteenth, than for Rukia's. Woo – go dedicating chapters to yourself. I know this chapter is really late. I was trying to get it edited but I think dinem died...(?)

Yea, I probably could have had this chapter out earlier but I had my birthday last weekend so I was distracted. We went to see '_Sweeney Todd_', which is now my new favourite movie!

---

**Twenty-first Collected:**

**Ignorance**

---

Ichigo furrowed his eyebrows in concentration, reading over his literature paper for any typos or mistakes, as he walked up the stairs slowly. When he stepped onto the top step and paused to made a mental note to change the spelling mistake on the third page, he grunted in acknowledgment towards Renji who past by him and his way down the stairs.

Continuing his way up the stairs, the fifteen year old plopped himself down in his desk chair and leaned back with a frustrated sigh. Homework just loved piling up, especially when hollow activity was at a maximum, and semester finals were nearing making anything else virtually impossible to do. He rubbed his eyes, which had dark bags under them, and attempted to rest his mind and sort everything out going through his day. Exams... hollow patrol... culminating assignments... Renji's over... sleep...

Ichigo shot up in his chair and frowned deeply. Renji's here...? Wait – what?

Stomping into the kitchen, Ichigo stood with arms crossed and glared as Renji who had made himself feel at home by making a sandwich for himself. Renji looked up through the shadow Ichigo was making by looming over him.

"Uhh... hey, Ichigo." he said, more a question than a greeting.

"Renji," Ichigo growled. "What are you doing in my house?"

Renji topped off his sandwich and stood up, backing away from the serious teen. "I'm here for--" Renji suddenly looked past Ichigo and beamed happily. "Rukia's birthday!"

The redhead swerved around the table and Ichigo, and walked to a confused-looking Rukia who had just walked into the kitchen, engulfing her in a bear hug. Rukia's eyes seemed to be bulging out of her head from being crushed.

"Renji," she wheezed so pitifully that Ichigo felt sorry for her. "I-can't-breath."

Even though his back was towards him, Ichigo could hear the grin in Renji's voice as he spoke. "Sorry," he backed off but rested his large hands on her shoulders. "Byakuya-taichou said I could come for the day and spend time with you. He also wishes you a happy birthday too – maybe not in those exact words but you get the idea." Ichigo snorted from the background of the two. That's Byakuya for you – can't wish his sister a proper happy birthday. In fact, Ichigo felt a bit hurt he hadn't been informed it was her birthday...

Speaking of which...

"So," he drawled. "Why wasn't I told it was your birthday, Rukia?"

After a moments pause, Rukia shrugged off Renji and went to the fridge to grab a juice box. Renji followed Ichigo's example and sat himself down at the small kitchen table as well.

"I dunno," she sighed as she shifted bottles around in the fridge. "I just didn't think it was that big a deal." Finally finding a drink, she too sat down, across from the two guys. Renji smirked evilly and leaned over to Ichigo.

"She's embarrassed about her age." he explained. "She won't even tell me!" Both heads swiveled to Rukia who was 'busy' opening her juice.

"No," she denied hotly. "I really don't think celebrating living a year longer is such a big deal." Ichigo took note of how she crinkled her nose cutely at the obvious lie, keeping her gaze down.

"Liar," Ichigo pointed out bluntly. "You made such a big deal of Inoue's birthday I was surprised the world didn't end afterwards." An uncharacteristic blush of embarrassment came onto Rukia's face.

"What does it even matter to you two, anyways?" she defended on her behalf. "It's my birthday; whoopy!" she rolled her eyes sarcastically and shrunk in her seat.

Ichigo and Renji stared at each other. "Ichigo?" Renji asked in a fake manner. "doesn't your father make very big deals out of birthdays in your house?"

Rukia choked on her drink when Ichigo started to play along.

"Why, Renji! You're right!" Both turned away from each other and grinned slyly at Rukia who had paled in her seat.

"Please, don't." she mumbled pathetically. "Your dad--"

"Is annoying?" Ichigo finished. "Doesn't know when to shut up? Needs to act his own age?"

"I was going to say 'can go over the top at times'." Rukia deadpanned. "Just don't tell him. I know you both expect me to milk this birthday thing like a child would," she glared at them accusingly. "but it really means nothing. So, keep it to yourselves; as a present to me, I guess." The legs of her chair scrapped against the tiles beneath them as the short woman stood. "I have to report back to Ukitake-taichou today for a fill-in." And with that she walked out the door.

Ichigo looked over at Renji who was still grinning like a kid who pulled a prank. "You got Ukitake to throw a party, didn't you?" Ichigo guessed, supporting his head in one hand.

Renji's grin grew more, if possible. "Hell yea."

* * *

**Word Count: 820

* * *

**

A/N: Rukia strikes me at someone who'd prefer to throw a party than receive one. By the way, a chapter probably won't come out next week since I'm swamped with exams for the first time in my life...

WHO GIVES A GYM EXAM?! Sorry... had to get that off my chest.


	22. Decay

**A/N:** Warning – angst (perhaps?) ahead. I actually don't know if it could actually be labeled under angst... but we can pretend, right? Also, reader discretion is advised, in some parts.

**---**

**Twenty-Second Collected:**

**Decay**

**---**

They argued because they were lonely.

When the situation called, a topic could be forced out. Petty comments would be made back and forth, witty comebacks would make the other snarl and scowl, and later on in the day – or week – they would both fume silently and not talk to the other. They thought about what the could have said, what they would have said, or what they should have said to get their enemy riled up. But then, the topic would burn up and, again, they'd be subdue to mild self-pity. Eventually, once all would calm down, both parties would come to a mutual agreement; a silently one, but still a mutual one.

They talked because they were lonely.

There would be times when something would just bubble past their lips and words would form on their own. Regardless if the words made sense or not, the other would stand next to their friend and comfort them in their uniquely unvoiced way. Little comments were made on the other's behalf, but he or she could set up a support for the other person. Talking never lasted long between the pair, and the conversations were swept under the rug. Nothing lasted long – but they still lasted long enough to have effect.

They eyed each other because they were lonely.

It was always made quick. She was quick because she didn't want to think of the bitter and unfair resemblance; he was quick due to fear of getting caught staring. with their heads down, peeks at each other could be made, despite if they went unnoticed or not. Nonetheless, both shinigami found a way to indulge themselves on the other person's face – perhaps without even knowing it themselves.

Their lips brushed over each other because they were lonely.

They each developed a sense of dependency and longing to forget in the easiest way possible. Time with each other consumed their thoughts, feelings, and memories, so they could not dream of anything else or any_one_ else. They were selfish people, so they stored away the key to their happiness to use whenever something they didn't want to hear, didn't want to see, didn't want to think about came their way. They were each other's dirty little secret.

Their hands wandered because they were lonely.

The marks they left on each other were quite more helpful than anyone would have thought. Both could almost say it was a reminder that he or she was still alive, but in retrospect, a sign that they needed someone to lean on; someone to rot with them in the end. If one of them went down, so would the other. Yet somehow, greed ate at their minds and neither could bring themselves to care.

There hips rocked against each other because they were lonely.

Though forgetting completely was the hardest part, temporarily forgetting seemed just as impossible. Night after night, thoughts consumed both of them until finally they couldn't handle it and turned to each other. The ecstasy and undeniable feral emotions were overwhelming – so much, that nothing could get through to them and they were dead to the world but in their own little corners of paradise; away from the dark tugs of their minds; away from the hand clenching and squeezing their bodies to death; away from the calls of their horrible, horrible memories.

They moaned each others names because they were lonely.

She didn't care if there were times that he showed affection for her and times when he treated her as if she didn't even exist; times that were close to certain dates or after a harsh matter was brought up. He didn't care what name she called into the dark room as they both had flesh on flesh; especially since in the process she rarely ever groaned his name out of pleasure. Both were content on pretending that everything in their lives – everything between _them_ – was perfectly fine.

They acted like nothing was wrong with them because they were lonely.

And they were – they were two very lonely people. Every event, every act... it was all determined by past feelings. Feelings they wished they could get rid of and relive. Love was cruel to them, so both Rukia and Ichigo denied anything other than friendship toward each other. Perhaps they're right – why fall victim to love after it's already crushed you?

_Blindly look the other way while you waste away with me._

* * *

**Word Count: 658

* * *

**

A/N: Can anyone name that song?

Yea... I had my first exam today. Yep, yep. Science. I dunno how I did – fairly well I guess. Everyone root for me that I aced it. My parents'll probably get mad if I didn't.

Anyways, yes, my grammar was probably atrocious. Without using names, keeping up with possessives is harder than it looks! Yes, this story style (in my opinion) was much different than normal one as well, so I'd like you to be kinder than normal in reviews... if you review.

Also, if you hadn't already gotten it, Ichigo's love was referring to his mother (as in the healthy kind of love, not the 'I'm in love with you,' love.), while Rukia's love was toward Kaien. By the way, I do not believe Rukia loved Kaien in that way but it definitely worked better for that piece for me to imply otherwise.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Review and tell/ask me. Oh yes, and guess what song was in this chapter! (**Note: **It was the last line, in italics.)


	23. Royalty

**A/N:** Hey guys. If you haven't noticed by now (because I'm sure you all stalk me... of course.), I started a new story on my fanfiction account. It's called "It's All Part of the Experience", and is basically a story about the Espada. If you like my pathetic attempts at humor, you should like this. Three cheers for advertising your own stories, neh? V.V

ANYWAYS, there actually was a point to me saying that. Unlike this story, IAPE isn't a collection story and has a plot(ish). That means that I'll probably take a while longer to update between the two (because god forbid I get a chapter out every few days, as it is), so you're gunna have to sit tight for a while longer. This is especially true since my second term in school is going to be a bit more time-consuming because of more homework, projects, relaxation time, etc. Sorry guys.

---

**Twenty-Third Collected**

**Royalty**

---

Between Inoue Orihime and Kuchiki Rukia, there was a large gap. There weren't many traits that they had in common and too many things that they did differently. The only specific, comment-worthy thing both girls had in common was possibly one of the worst; Kurosaki Ichigo.

Still, both women were very close friends and that was an undeniable fact. They would do anything for the other person, go to any length to make sure they stayed safe, find any possible way to conquer anything that could be a threat for their friend. They both loved each other to the extend where they could possibly be best friends.

So, why did Rukia even wonder if Inoue also felt jealousy toward her in the first place?

Rukia told herself she didn't know why she felt this way, or what could even cause her to feel this way, or when she started even feeling like this. But secretly, she knew. It had started slowly, growing at its own pace until she felt it strong and steady. It was caused because of Inoue's relationship and, in general, amazing personality. And she felt that way... because Ichigo Kurosaki had just dragged her down into a fit of envy toward her friend. She had picked the worst common fact to share with Inoue, as well as the worst time to think about it. Minutes ago she was reminding herself that she could relate to her captive friend, but now she was wishing unconsciousness would just take over...

It was far from intentional – Rukia had way more respect for Inoue be jealous toward her about Ichigo, not to mention too much dignity. She would swear it to herself that she would never let Inoue – _Orihime_ – know. If she was to say it accidentally, or even intentionally, it would crush the girl and make her more miserable that herself. That was just something Rukia couldn't do.

Orihime was a princess in Rukia's eyes. Maybe not as regal, or upheld – definitely not as graceful – as a real princess, but she was certainly as kind, caring and gentle as the true thing. Never violent, always willing to forgive, avoiding the killing blow during any time toward even her enemies... it was just as close to having a tiara as you could get now.

And what was Rukia in her _own_ eyes? Nothing but the lowly peasant-child she was back in her youth. It was like Orihime was raised as a noble, while Rukia was only brought into the lifestyle. That may have given Rukia the title of noble too, but that didn't mean she was one at heart. Orihime owned her title, while Rukia just used hers. In the long-run, the comparison in personality didn't come close.

This meant that Ichigo Kurosaki was Orihime Inoue's ideal prince, as well. And while Rukia loved him, she knew that Orihime needed him to keep her life in balance. She was waiting for him, waiting in Las Noches for her hero, the one to save her...

...Her prince.

Rukia was a street rat. No matter how much it stung to admit it.

They were royalty. No matter how much it pained to realize it.

They deserved each other. No matter how much it hurt to see it happen.

She would let Orihime complete her fairytale the way it was intended if she wanted to. No matter how much it killed for Rukia to think about it.

* * *

Meanwhile, if you were to ask that very Inoue Orihime who was currently being held against her will Las Noches, about Rukia Kuchiki, the girl would say that the answer was obvious. 

She, too, was royalty and also waiting for the very same prince to go rescue her.

* * *

**Word Count: 553

* * *

**

**A/N:** Please don't anyone review saying I made Rukia out to be a lesbian for Orihime. I might make you go read over the part where she said she was like her best friend over again. -.-' Save yourself and don't make that mistake.

**SPOILER:** Also, if your confused about setting, Rukia is in Las Noches after her fight with the ninth Espada. This is just before she goes unconscious while she's thinking about how she knows how Inoue feels... I dunno, I like these thoughts better ;P

But other than that, please review!


	24. Stand

**A/N:** I'm at a loss for ideas – _It's All Part of the Experience_ is zapping my creativity, as well as English class. Fear not though, because I'm not giving up.

I'd like to take a moment to thank those of you who reviewed – even CJ, for the criticism. I'll be sure to watch what I put in my writing and even though it was a bit on the rude side, I'm still going to thank you. I didn't agree with some parts of the review, but I still valued the opinion.

By the way, I'm sorry to those of you who expected a Valentines chapter, but I'm going to save that mushy stuff till March 14th – White Day ;)

---

**Twenty-Fourth Collected**

**Stand**

---

They were bleeding, broken, sore, and most of all, tired. But they were happy. Ishida; Chad; Orihime; Rukia; Ichigo; exhausted beyond belief but only two things kept them going.

Determination and hope.

Part of the Soul Society was already in Hueco Mundo, battling like there was no tomorrow, and more were on the way. Many of the harder Arrancar, the Espada specifically, were cleared out of the way. Aizen, Gin and Tousen had retreated from their own army and only saved a handful with them, leaving everyone else to perish. Swords clashed, blood spilled, battles formed and it seemed like there was no end to it all.

And suddenly, when everything seemed like there was an even match among everyone, the screaming of Arrancar and Shinigami alike had stopped all across Las Noches, leaving the permanent-night air of the Hollow World still and undisturbed. More cries broke out again, from only Shinigami; victory cries. Vice Captains rushed to their squad members – Captains trailed behind to survey the area. The members of the fourth company ran to the wounded to administer treatment. Nel, Peeche and Dondochakka, the only Arrancar left alive purposefully, had a fruitless amount of energy, it seemed, and celebrated by dancing and laughing endlessly. Somewhere among post-war chaos, a group of four stood near the back, along with the rubble and fallen pillars. _The_ four; previously known as the ryoka.

Although Orihime had worried over Ichigo, who dripped blood as he took single steps, she knew why he had sent her away to go heal Ishida and Chad first. A small, but genuine, smile reached her lips. There was no use arguing with him. He always put his friends before anything else, and even if he had suffered possibly the worst damage throughout all the battles, he still refused her help so she could aid others. She watched his back as he rocked back and forth on his feet to keep him balanced as he walked away slowly, perhaps to go help someone else. His grip on Zangetsu's hilt was fierce and hard like he expected another enemy to come, but he still put the sword back in it's sheath unwillingly. And even when he had rounded a corner, Orihime beamed with pride and happiness to know such a man such as Ichigo Kurosaki – someone who would put a stranger before his own life.

Ichigo panted as he slid down one of the white wall of the fallen palace once referred to as Las Noches. A trail of blood smeared along it, red pooled at his feet. _Just a moment, _he thought to himself desperately. _Just rest for a moment._

For the past days and nights Ichigo had willed himself to stay on his feet he had never felt as tired as he did now. He had swore to himself at the beginning of the ordeal that he would walk out of Hueco Mundo on his own – alive and strong enough to not be helped. Be it the adrenaline rush at the time, or pure stubbornness, Ichigo still couldn't deny the promise he had made to himself. But just for the moment, when everyone was safe and well (for the most part) he would rest against the enemy wall.

But then, the moment passed and Ichigo found himself forced onto his feet automatically. He leaned on his own blood that trailing down the wall with a shaky forearm. A delicate hand touched his mangled shoulder blade, but instinct had spun him around in a paranoid manner so he was now looking into the calm face of Unohana Retsu. Internally, he sighed.

He was surprised when she bowed to him deeply. "Kurosaki Ichigo-san." she greeted, looking at the ground beneath her. He could feel her eyes wholly on him when she came back up, wise and understanding that he was standing on sheer determination alone. "Kuchiki Rukia-san wishes to speak with you."

When Ichigo saw Rukia his heart lifted a bit, as did a portion of the fog clouding his mind, to see her well and sitting up on her own. Although no one had come out of the battle unscathed, she looked much better than when Ichigo had first seen her with Byakuya; clear evidence that she had been healed by Hanatarou, maybe.

The two, left alone from Unohana who wandered off to go heal someone else, stared at each other for a moment. Rukia lifted a curled fist, intending to beat him on the head a few times, but decided against it when she saw the pathetic state he was in. Beaten, bruised, bleeding profusely._ Dignity still remains though_, she noticed. He refused to sit down. The silence continued on.

"You are a fool," she spoke suddenly, startling both of them.

"Why?"

She didn't answer. "Sit." Still, he refused and remained rooted in place. "Sit now, Ichigo."

The cold look on her face forced him to give in. Wearily, he sat down beside Rukia and stared straight ahead at the mass of rock before them.

"You realize that you'd put a stranger before your own life, right?" The thoughts that had run through Orihime's head were spoken aloud. Rukia had no idea where the words came from, but she did not regret them bubbling past her lips. Ichigo's expression remained still as rock, his eyes darting about in front of him. For a moment, she almost thought he was lost in his own mind and hadn't heard her.

"Yea," he replied.

No questions were asked afterwards. The remained in silence.

Rukia slowly reached a hand out and snaked it around Ichigo's upper arm. She pulled his head down onto her shoulder and felt him tense up nervously, wondering what she was playing at by pulling something like this.

"I suppose," She had read his thoughts. "That if you could do that for a stranger, I could let you have a bit of rest. God forbid you rest on your own."

Ichigo relaxed slightly but was still nerve-wracked to see such an uncharacteristically merciful side of Rukia. "I can't believe you called me an idiot before you did something like this."

"And why is that?"

"If your brother sees this, he'll make sure I never walk out of here."

Rukia sighed in mock forgone manner. "I'm sacrificing my shoulder, not my pity."

Ichigo snorted. "Like I'd allow it any other way. I feel ridiculous as it is."

"You'll live," her voice trailed off. "I think we all will."

* * *

**Word Count: 1085

* * *

**

**A/N:** I'm not sure about this piece. I liked some parts, but didn't really like others. Oh well, sue me. It's your opinion. I thought Rukia was out of character, though, even if Ichigo admitted it in the actual piece.

Review and lemme know what you think!


	25. Keepsake

A/N: I was going to do a funny/cute collection next, but somehow ended up being inspired to write this short bit of literal insanity. I edited this after I slept and kind of cringed while reading. Bare with me, please.

By the way, bolded letters refer to Ichigo. Everything else is... well, you'll see.

---

**Twenty-Fifth Collected**

**Keepsake**

---

He liked these types of nights best – nights that passed by as a glint of silver, slithering it's way past his memory and leavingsmall traces of freshness in his mind. Light shone in from a night sky, moon just a sliver like the sheer metal of his sword – her sword – their sword – as it was drawn from a sheath and flashed backwards quick like a venomous snake rearing back. The nights that he danced around her, prowled around her, captured her in his mind; those nights werewhat gave him theeuphoria in the black twists of himself. The way she lied to him, even though he knew she was lying and she knew it too, sent him spiraling into his hatred for her. And he would bounce back,topple her over, show her why he hated her; why she should hate herself; why he hated her for turning him into such a sentimental beast; why she should hate herself for turning him into such a sentimental beast.

_"If I could,"_ by now he talked with the aid of **his** mouth. "_I would kill you so I would not have to share you with anyone else."_ He would smirk into the shell of her ear and slide around her like a trailing shadow, grabbing onto her shoulders, tugging on the folds of her dark cloths.

_"And I would not have it any other way,"_ he saw her say without the movement of her thin lips, despite the nails that dragged on his hands with fury and agony and terror. He had convinced her. The voice in his mind had told him so and after so many horrid years she was finally his and shut out from anyone else in the world – universe. He had gone to too many great lengths to finally meet her price,but he would not light his prize around to a soul in the world like a barbaric, foolish man.

It was these nights that the pieces of his mind jumbled around in his head and amber eyes flickered through them all,loving the shattered bits that yelled and screamed and rolled his tongue into knots. Those parts of** him** splintered into his senses long ago with a roar of a last attempt to take him down – but the better part had won.

He successfully gained his precious item he had longed for since the beginning of his time.

And when she pushed at him he was convinced she was leaning into **him**, comforting **him** and accepting the side that had dominated the once naïve fool. Her words burned into his skin deeply and made him roar with laughter. What lies! She wouldtalk about having to help him, all so she could get back what she thought belonged to her.

_"Wrong,"_ he would hiss._ "What belonged to you has gone and left and is buried dead."_ And then she would cry andscream and hit and it made him feel oh so powerful, having the shards of the past – the ones that had fled from the grave in the center of his soul – dig themselves into his eyes and bring forward the longed for sense of pain, sense of fight he had been looking for forso long! And it was all thanks to her, the trigger of**his** fire that sparked heavily.

_"But you will never know,"_ he had said to her, laughing merrily while he spun her around festively and she whimpered under his jailed look.

_"Oh, but you do, but you do! You do know and you're lying to me! Tell me you're lying to me, Rukia-chan!"_ And she would choke and sputter and fall to the rocky ground in a helpless mess. But still, she would grab and bite, attacking ruthlessly. _"Tell me you're lying!"_ His roar would send her into a silent spasm and he would pick her up off the ground easily. She would dangle helplessly, high in the air, aided by the hand on her throat that cut into her neck like nails into a board. And with his other hand, a shining dagger would appear and hold itself at his... **his**throat. So, she would wail some more and croak out the words _"I'm lying! I'm lying! I'mlying!I'mlying!I'M LYING!"_ over and over until her voice was raw, and red stained his fingertips on her throat.

And then there was the euphoria again – that sickening bittersweet pain that tunneled through the veins of the stolen body, searing him to the point where he would scream out to her andthrow her back onto the ground and dance with heragain.

_"Oh, Rukia-chan! I cannot do such a thing to you because you are **HIS** key!"_ His laughter would continue throughout the night, echoing like its own epiphany.

Oh, how he – the horse made king! – adored these types of nights. The silver glint of memory would stab him repeatedly but keephim alive, like the sheer metal of** his** sword running through the malice in his body. And he prayed – oh how he prayed! – for the day when he would not survive that glint of silver and he would have to battle his way to be king again. The key, the key, _the key_. He knew the key to **King's** sanity. She shook in front of him, lied to him, told him she never loved **him**. She bit and kicked, scratched and clawed, yelled and glared.

Oh, how he loved using**his** key!

* * *

**Word Count: 919 **

A/N: And this, readers, is the produce of going thirty seven hours with only two hours of sleep and reading excessive amounts of Death Note fiction. 

So, lack of sleep makes me sadistic and malicious? Feel free to slap me for not giving you guys a notice beforehand.

-Very tired Hayley.


	26. Helpful

**A/N: **Someone left an anonymous review last chapter, under the name 'niinii', about how Americans don't celebrate boxing day. All I can say is that I'm pretty sure most Japanese don't celebrate Christmas, either. Yea... XD

Fanfiction formatting was being stupid for this chapter. If something happens to the formatting, you know who to blame. I think it all might be centered.  
Also, let's see how many of you will think I came up with this on the spot, like I did.

--

**Twenty-Sixth Collected**

**Helpful**

--

Rukia sighed. Then yawned. Her eyes drooped, her head nodded, her knees shook. She was exhausted. She blamed Ichigo. Damned bastard kept her up all night with his late-night studying and she couldn't seem to keep up, despite her shinigami background. That boy had way too much stamina for his own good; so much it was sickening.

While dozing as she walked home, she failed to notice Inoue prance up to her. "Hello, Kuchiki-san!" she greeted happily, snapping the shorter girl out of her daze.

"Ah, Inoue-san." she said back, looking at her through tired eyes.

Orihime noticed this.

"Huh? Kuchiki-san, what's wrong? You look so tired!" Rukia merely smiled. Orihime was just too nice and concerned for her own good.

"It's nothing, Inoue-san." she answered, slumping her shoulders forward. "I'm just really tired. Ichigo and I stayed up most of the night studying for the history test we had this morning."

Regardless, Orihime still looked genuinely worried. "But Kuchiki-san, we were told about that test a week ago! Why would you need to study all night if you studied before?"

Rukia looked over to the other girl with a deadpanned expression, silently asking her if she was for real. The redhead caught on and made her mouth into the shape of a small, understanding 'o'.

"Don't get me wrong," Rukia defended. "I would have studied, but it's just that the Soul Society has been calling on me a lot this week, and the hollows," she rolled her eyes. "The hollows were being hollows."

This caused Orihime to laugh, though Rukia couldn't understand why. "Didn't you two just think to stay home though? You could have just had a full day to study that way."

Somehow, they hadn't thought of that. At least Rukia didn't.

"Ugh," she groaned, and hung her head in humiliation. Why _didn't_ she think of that? "I asked Ichigo to help me through spirit form on the test, but he wouldn't. Something about it being 'dishonest' and 'cheating'." she mocked, imitating his voice poorly. Orihime hid a laugh behind her hand.

"That kind of sounds like Kurosaki-kun. But I think he wouldn't do that because he cares." Now this through Rukia for a loop. How did that work?

"I don't get it," she admitted, looking at the eccentric girl.

Orihime thought over her words carefully before she spoke. "Well, big brother would tell me that you can tell people care about each other when they try and convince a person to do the right thing because, in the end, they only end up hurting themselves if they make the wrong choice. So, maybe Kurosaki-kun just is showing he cares that you don't end up harming yourself."

Rukia narrowed her eyes and looked to the side at the riverbank they walked along. "I don't see how him helping me on a test when I'm about to pass out is harming myself. In fact I think I failed and that'd hurt me even more, wouldn't it?" she muttered making Orihime laughed again.

"I suppose you're right," Orihime mused. "You wouldn't really need to know all that history when you're fighting a hollow, would you?"

"Exactly!" Rukia replied, throwing her hands up into the air. "It's ridiculous."

"Maybe, maybe not." the other girl said, again confusing the shinigami.

She took the bait. "And how's that?"

"You could apply that to other stuff, I guess. I mean, you're not always going to be able to take the easy way out on stuff, so why not just prepare and work through it?" By now, Orihime seemed to be talking to herself more than anything so Rukia opted to not answer.

Still, Rukia thought about it and came to the conclusion that although Orihime meant well, she could really stretch things out of proportion.

"Ah!" she suddenly remembered something loudly, making the other girl jump into the air slightly. "What did you put down for question eleven?" she asked.

Rukia made a blank face. "I can't even remember what the test was about, Inoue-san. Get back to me after I've had a decent amount of sleep."

Orihime smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head. "Yea, okay. Sorry, I know what it's like to have not of had a lot of sleep. Like, there was this one time when Sora and I were finishing up my literature project but we had to clean up and..."

Rukia earnestly listened to what the girl had to say, instead of just pretending like she would with nearly anyone else. There was something about Orihime that just couldn't be ignored, and listening to her prattle on about the past helped Rukia feel just a little less tired than she did before the girl began talking to her.

"Maybe you're right," Rukia murmured at the end of Orihime's story, referring to what she had said about her late night studying. It was too bad that Inoue didn't catch on, so she just ended up getting a questioning look at the random comment.

"Neh? Right about what, Kuchiki-san?" she asked, leaning forward to get a look at the other girl's face, as if it would help.

Rukia just shook her head, telling her to forget it. Eventually, they came to the point where they both had to split paths. They waved goodbye to each other and started walking in opposite directions.

Standing up a bit straighter, the shinigami rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. Feeling a bit more awake, she wondered where the hell Ichigo was. Regardless, maybe they could just have a quiet night with no Soul Society, or hollows, or tests. And they would sleep. It sounded nice.

Too bad that when she got home Rukia found Ichigo already beginning to study for the huge math test they had tomorrow afternoon. Heaving a huge groan, Rukia tried to decide if Ichigo would think it would be the right thing to use the memory modifier on their teacher.

* * *

**Word Count: 1003**

**A/N:** I honestly had no idea where I was going with this when I first started it. I just let it flow and this is what it turned out to be. Short, simple, easy to read, I think. A very good break from last chapter (which I like to call 'my little lapse in sanity') I believe. I dunno. I think I just wanted to write about Orihime, with a smidgen of IchiRuki squeezed in there. Orihime is such a lovable character at times. Although... after the Soul Society arc and into Hueco Mundo arc I really wanted to just slap her. To this day, I don't know why. -shrugs-

Argh. I'm very annoyed. They're making another filler arc _right in the middle of the Hueco Mundo arc._ Retarded, no? It starts after Grimmjow turns into his release form, I believe.

* * *


	27. Transit

**A/N: **It's been raining a lot here lately.

--  
**Twenty-Seventh Collected:  
Transit**  
--

The week had started off nice enough. There was a little heat here, some gusts of wind there, bouncy-looking clouds fleeting through the sky…

….but that was the start of the week. Come Thursday the downpour started. The worst part was no one even saw it coming. Half of Karakura Town was now plotting the ever painful demise of the weatherman. He himself must have seen it too, because the Friday after he looked _pretty _damn nervous. That's for another time though, because today was still Thursday and today Ichigo and Rukia were still standing under the school's overhang watching the storm.

"And you said it was too nice to even think of bringing an umbrella," Ichigo sneered at Rukia, who answered by huffing and crossing her arms. Inwardly smirking, Ichigo happily flipped the umbrella up and they began to walk. With the drumming of raindrops above them drowning out any sounds from screeching cars the way home was peaceful. At least it was until Rukia began to complain.

"Ichigo, hold the umbrella lower. I'm still getting wet!" she demanded, tugging on the handle with Ichigo's hand around it. Ichigo yelped as he was pulled to the side carelessly, narrowly avoiding fall face first in a puddle.

"I can't! The umbrella's already touching my head as it is." Ichigo argued back but still slouched over to see if that would help. Needless to say, it didn't.

Rukia wrestled him from the umbrella. "Give it here," she commanded like _she _was the one who'd brought it in the first place.

Ichigo persistently clung on. "What's the point of giving it to you?" he yelled. "You couldn't even hold it up high enough to cover my head!" Clearly offended, Rukia snatched the handle from him and elbowed him out from underneath the umbrella.

"Well, this will just have to do then, won't it?" she sniffed coldly, walking ahead of the now angry teen. He grabbed onto the flap of her backpack and ignored the shocked look a passing old couple gave him. He couldn't care less – he was wet and being beaten by a little brat because she couldn't take a few drops of water landing on her head.



"No," he said rather gruffly back. "It won't. Now give me the thing before I poke an eye it." It was true. His face was dangerously close to one of the points, but Rukia seemed inclined to hold the umbrella to suit her own height. Obviously, this didn't apply to Ichigo's much taller frame.

The old couple was still staring. Rukia, unfortunately, seemed to notice this.

"Ah, Kurosaki-kun!" she acted. "But if I get wet the water will seep through the white fabric of my shirt. We wouldn't want such a thing to happen to a lady, now would we?"

Oh, that was a fantastic performance. Make **him** look like the creep that wanted to see through her shirt.

"There's nothing to see," Ichigo snapped indignity. Rukia was too genuinely ticked off to notice he took back the umbrella and held it over both their heads again. "Maybe when something actually grows I'll reconsider."

Ouch. Ichigo supposed he deserved that heel in his foot (not that he'd ever admit it).

"Will you just shut up?" she hissed. "If you'd just be a man and let me have the umbrella – God, it's not like you don't bath in water as it is."

"One; no, I will not shut up. Two; just because I'm a guy doesn't mean I'm going to get wet for someone as annoying as you. Three; I bathe in water that's been filtered and not whatever the hell this stuff is contaminated with. So unless you can figure out a different way to somehow cover us both, I suggest _you_ shut up and let yourself get a bit wet."

* * *

Grumbling something about stupid midgets who should have just not suggested anything, Ichigo readjusted Rukia's legs that hooked loosely around his waist. His backpack uncomfortably smacked the side of his leg with each step while Rukia kept 'accidentally' hitting his cheek with the umbrella's stick as she held it. Rukia herself climbed a little higher up until her head could lazily rest on Ichigo's shoulder.

"Walk faster," she complained. "I have a ton of homework."

"Oh, really? I thought you'd just packed cinderblocks in your bag."

"Haha, that's very smart to say when I could easily punch you in the face right now."

Legs soaked, Ichigo trudged through another puddle while Rukia remained completely dry on his back. Stupid girl who wouldn't take a little rain water – honestly, his pants were getting muddy. He'd have a helluva time explaining this to Yuzu.

"You wanna quite squirming?" Ichigo barked. "We're going to fall over if you don't so just stay still and hold on."

"Ugh, but your pants are making my socks wet!"

"I know," he muttered darkly.

They went on in silence. The walk was almost like the way it was before, with rain humming down on the umbrella top. The only difference was Ichigo was now giving someone a piggyback ride. Still, it was almost peaceful.

Per usual, Rukia broke the calm. "Come on, walk faster I say! Faster!"

"I'm not a freakin' horse!"

"Says you. Faster!

* * *

**Words: 876**

* * *

**A/N:** -is shot for not having an excuse for nearly three months without update and still making a chapter so short-

In other news, I got my own computer and summer's coming up. Considering I have no life, updates will quite possibly be more frequent.


	28. Messaging

A/N: Woo! Procrastination!

Okay, this chapter is heavily based on a chainmail my mom sent me. Haha. I dunno if this chapter's AU or not either… it's up to the reader, I suppose? ...This is also shamefully short. -shot-

--  
**Twenty-Eighth Collected:  
Messaging**  
--

Ichigo glared down at his food, then at his glass, then at the table. Honestly, he couldn't remember why he was glaring – or why Rukia was sitting across the table with that snotty look on her face while she poked at her own food – but it really didn't matter. Ichigo simply wasn't going to give in and be the first one to talk.

So what if he couldn't remember why he was mad? Rukia probably didn't either, and even if she did, it would be like admitting defeat to ask her. And if he couldn't remember why they had been giving the cold shoulder to each other, then this fighting was obviously not about the fact of the matter more than it was a battle of wills.

So Ichigo sat at one end of the table and Rukia sat at the other, both in silence.

Minutes ticked on and neither of them made a move to eat their dinner, but instead focused their attention on trying to look at the other _without_ looking at the other.

If that made any sense.

Which it probably didn't.

At all.

Nevertheless, Ichigo pretended to look at the clock above Rukia's head when he was really gauging how much willpower she seemed to have left. By the look in her eyes, that detached, thoughtful look, it seemed like not much longer. He could tell she was getting bored with this only after two days of not talking.

Ichigo finally stared at the clock itself and not the person who sat below it, taking in the time. Quarter to nine; dinner was unusually late tonight.

Stretching away from his seat, Ichigo sighed and looked over to his wife who was still pushing food around on her plate. Smirking to himself, he walked over to the fridge where a note pad hung on a magnet on the door. Silently, he scratched on a note:

_Going to bed. Wake me up at 5 AM tomorrow – I have a meeting._

He slid the note next to Rukia's drink and watched her scan it over in silence. And instead of getting riled up, like Ichigo had half anticipated-half hoped, she nodded and went back to moving the food around in every which way on her plate.

Ichigo blinked but decided not to argue it through the magic of pen and paper. Why make a fuss if she – for once – was being cooperative?

Instead, he shuffled his way up the stairs for a nice long shower to get ready for bed.

Refreshed was the only word that Ichigo could describe how he felt the next morning with the sun waving its way over his face. It felt nice. He couldn't remember the last time he woke up late enough to have the sun warm up the covers.

He buried himself down deeper and curled up in a ball. Ahh. Toasty warm--

Ichigo's eyes snapped open.

The sun didn't shine at five o'clock in the morning. He shouldn't be lying in bed past five o'clock in the morning. Not when he had a meet--

Holy hell!

Ichigo tossed the covers off himself hazardously, not bothering to pick them off the ground. He grabbed his slacks, hopping around from foot-to-foot trying to tug them onto his body. Then, as if his luck wasn't already bad enough, he found himself flung to the ground after tripping over the comforter. A loose note on the bedside table floated down from Ichigo's thud, and was grabbed out of the air quickly.

There were only five words on the post-it, but it was enough for Ichigo to crumple the note and break his vow of silence.

"RUKIA! YOU BITCH!"

Said bitch grinned into her coffee cup while hearing the yelling and struggling from upstairs. Who knew such a little note could make her husband fly off the handle?

Oh, she remembered why they were fighting and it was the whole reason Ichigo missed his meeting – he had broken the alarm clock days ago and blamed it on her.

Well, serves him right. If he wanted to use notes as reminders, she would too. On her own note she had written in her neat little cursive:

_It's five. Get up._

* * *

**Word Count: 703**

* * *


End file.
